Am I dead?
The world around me was hazy. Everything ached as if I’d been hit by a train, my body was so numb i couldn’t move. As the veil of fog left my mind, everything came rushing back: the mission; the Zombies; screaming; and the orange car…. orange car…. fire bird…. a phoenix-THE Phoenix!
With renewed vigor, I sat upright so fast I could’ve bashed my head on the ceiling, searching for the one and only Falcon. Before our radio had cut out, Dahlia had said someone was coming to save us, but I never would have expected someone as legendary as Falcon herself to show up.
I was in the corner, farthest from the only door, my gaze flew to burgundy hair on the dusty couch in the center of the room. A man stood over her, his back to me.There was no way to tell what he was doing, but his clothes were white-like a Fryer.
My heart froze. What if he was a Fryer? Wouldn’t he turn us in? Had Falcon dragged us there-wherever ‘there’ was, just to be captured anyway? No, I couldn’t let that happen, I had to save us. Looking for anything that could be used as a weapon, I realized there really wasn’t much in the mysterious room. Just the couch Falcon was on, a wooden table, empty shelves and the sandy blanket under me. Everything was thoroughly caked in dust and sand. My fingers twitched around an object at my side, as if guided by instinct. My sunshine gold blaster beckoned me to hold her again.
Why hadn’t he taken my weapon?
There was no time for questions, whatever the bastard was doing, it was happening to Falcon-who wasn’t moving. Without a second thought, I shot to my feet, pressing my blaster against the mans head. “Get away from her!”
He turned to gaze at me through his round glasses that were barely being held together by duct tape. His appearance almost threw me off. Gray hair and wise brown eyes reminded me of my grandpa-who was still trapped within the walls. One of his wrinkled hands lifted into the air, stained a bright red. “If I move my other hand she’ll bleed out.”
I risked a glance down at his hand. It was pressed firmly against Falcon’s stomach, I had stopped him mid-treatment, one hand holding the wound closed while the other held a bloody bandage up in surrender. Bile slithered up my throat. She was hurt, and not moving. She had gotten hurt saving us.
Saved you, I recalled Bubblegum falling limp in the backseat, blood splattering all over the dash. The screaming i could hear so clearly in my fuzzy memories was my own. It dawned on me-Bubblegum was gone, my partner was gone. And i couldn’t save her, not even Falcon could save her. She was too focused with saving me.
Guilt catches me like a trap, locking me behind walls of solid shame under the darkness of my cowardliness. This was a sign, it had to be a sign. God’s way of saying i wasn’t meant to be an Outlier. I couldn’t save my partner, Hell I couldn’t save myself, let alone six-hundred-thousand people. And now, i can’t save Falcon. No, I pushed the intrusive thoughts away. We couldn’t afford a meltdown, I had to find a way out of there, with Falcon. “Finish what you were doing.”
“Grandpa-” A boy with strawberry blonde hair stumbled down the stairs, barely holding onto the rail and a small walkie at once. It was one of ours, jet black with a silver stethoscope painted on the back. He froze like a deer caught in headlights. His huge, round glasses (similar to the old mans) reflected the light shining off my blaster. “MARCO!”
I turned my blaster on him as thundering, heavy footsteps trailed around outside before the front door was kicked in. A thick, burly guy with lots of facial hair aimed an old fashioned rifle at me. Who was i supposed to aim at? It was different with the Zombies-they weren’t human. No amount of training could have taught me what to do in this situation. My aim flicked around wildly before settling on the old man once again. Threatening him had to be the best option, we wouldn’t get out of there alive any other way.
“Easy there girl. Put your gun down,” The big guy said, holding his gun steady, unlike me. “Don’t make me have to use this.”
“Put it down, Marco,” The old man spoke calmly, too calm for having a blaster pressed to his skull.
“But-”
“Didn’t you hear me boy? I said put the God damned gun down now! These people are heroes!”The way his voice echoed around the room with such authority made me want to drop my gun. He spoke with such confidence and anger, it was hard to resist.
Heroes? He knew who we were-AND he didn’t turn us in? What was going on?
Marco hesitantly lowered his gun and mumbled what sounded like an apology. The old man turned back to study Falcon, concern written all over his face. “You can put your gun down, kid, we ain’t gonna hurt ya.”
When he noticed me staring, he lifted his sleeve, showing me the faded stethoscope tattoo-the mark of a former Outlier. When you join the Outliers, your Code Name becomes your life-and is tattooed on the right shoulder, sort of like an ID, one that the N.S. would never copy-tattoo’s were high on their list of illegal practices, along with religion and fun. It was the one sure way to pick out spies. No one under the N.S. control would even consider breaking the laws set by the High Counsel.
I lowered my blaster, but kept my finger ready on the trigger.“You’re an Outlier?”
“I was, A long time ago,” He finished cleaning Falcon’s wound. “You can call me Doc.”
“Grandpa, the droids-”
“Felix,” Doc cut the ginger kid off. “I know. You boys get packed up, I need to finish with her then well get moving.” Felix stomped up the stairs, Marco following closely behind, but not without shooting another sorry my way.
I kneeled beside Falcon, finally getting a good look at my hero for the first time. I wanted to scream, or shake with excitement, but it was neither the place nor the time. Falcons Burgundy hair was wild and untamed, probably purple once, but the sun had obviously bleached it. Her skin was unusually pale, but her weight was average for an Outlier-extra thin, yet i could tell from her build that she was lithe and strong.
Her clothes were dirty, but smelled oddly good, the fresh scent of trees wafted through the room. Black pants and a gray tank-top, both shredded beyond trade-value, but still functioned to cover her. What was most remarkable, was the three inch, thick platform boots and tight leather jacket she was wearing. I couldn’t help but trace my fingers along one of the sleeves, where a pair of glowing white wings had been painted along the length.
Her face suddenly twisted in pain, I snapped my hand back as her eyes fluttered open. I almost expected her to scream as she shifted her left arm, which i had just noticed was wrapped in thick gauze, splints holding her forearm and wrist straight. She didn’t scream, but groaned low and hard. She chewed her lip and glanced up at me with shockingly bright green eyes.
“What happened? Where are we?” Her voice was dry and cracked when she spoke. Doc stuck a bandage from his pocket on her stomach and helped her sit up. Her leather jacket squelched with every tiny move she made.
“You guy’s wrecked just outside the wall,” He said. “I recognized ya Falcon and snuck ya both through wall security-”
“-We’re in the walls?” Somehow she managed to balance herself on the platforms without falling flat on her face as she frantically checked her make shift holsters crafted of wood and duct tape, which were empty. She looked understandably upset, an Outliers blaster was the one thing in the world they could always trust, to lose it is to lose a part of yourself. “Where’s my car?”
“They hauled it away right after I found you, probably being sent to the storage warehouse near the Royale Hotel.” Marco stomped down the stairs, Felix following behind him, timidly fiddling with the same walkie. Both had full bags hoisted on their backs.
“We’ve gotta go, thanks for your help Doc,” Falcon mumbled, approaching the front door. “You commin’ Daisy?”
Internally, All i could think in that moment was; She knew my name! When i should have been wondering how she new Doc and what her actual plan was? We couldn’t just roam the city until we managed to find the warehouse, even then, how would we get Phoenix past the wall?
But I played it cool and stepped beside her. She looked like she might’ve keeled over any second. “To the warehouse?”
“Were else w-”
She froze as headlights lit up the house from the front. We rushed to take cover beside the doorway. I crouched on the stairs, holding my Blaster at the ready. Shadows danced across the boarded up front windows as the Zombies gathered at the front door. Doc steps beside Marco, pulling a white blaster from a holster on his hip.
“You got another one of those Gramp’s?” Doc nodded and reached into Marco’s bag. He pulled out another white blaster and handed it to Falcon. She examined the weapon thoroughly. I could read it in her face: this wasn’t her blaster, but it was better than nothing.
Falcon groaned, as she twisted around Felix to get to the largest window, pulling on the wooden planks. Surprisingly, they were pretty loose, the nails popped right out of the concrete walls. It was one of the coolest things i had even experienced, watching her plan an escape, even with her injuries. I still couldn’t believe it was happening, that i was actually there, in a room with The Falcon.
“You girls need ta’ get outta here,” Doc whispered. “Use the window an take my boys with ya.”
“Pop-”
Falcon had only just managed to throw up the sash when the door burst open. Marco and Doc began firing before the first droid passed through the doorway. The Zombies piled through one after the other. I fired rapidly, my mind void of thought as the droids dropped dead.
“Get the Hell outta here!” Doc shot a zombie in the head, tearing apart it’s main-frame.
Out of no where, Falcon snatched the back of Felix’s white polo, and my yellow hoodie. We hid behind the couch. I didn’t let up on the trigger, firing laser’s at anything that moved in the doorway until A heavy scream cut through the night. Marco fell to the ground, clawing at his neck. Blood poured from the side of his throat as he stopped twitching with a final groan.
“Marco!” Felix slipped from Falcons hold, rushing towards his brother.
“Felix!” I scrambled after him, grabbing around his waist as the Zombies shot down Doc and turned their aim on us.
“Go! We’ll find another way out!” I dragged Felix up the stairs and around the corner, praying Falcon had heard me. I couldn’t save him and go back for her. I had to hope she managed to get out.
The stairs lead to a long hallway, full of wide open rooms, no doors to lock the droids out-no way of stalling them to plan an escape. There was a large window at the very end, not boarded and no glass to worry about. Felix hung off my shoulder limp as the dead. I swore he would be if he didn’t pick up his pace.
there was a loud, booming voice downstairs; the commander ordered the zombies to split up. I strain my ears, trying to figure if Falcon had escaped or not. I got my answer when we reached the window, Falcon was just rushing into the shadows of a nearby alleyway. Relief flooded me down to the core. I wasn’t alone with the useless kid, i could still catch up to Falcon-she would know exactly what to do.
My relief was short-lived. Heavy, metallic footsteps ascended the stairs. Adrenaline kicked me in the gut; a reminder that i had no time to worry about Falcon, she could take care of herself even injured. The neighbors roof below was a bit of a drop, but wasn’t steep enough to cause any serious damage.
“C’mon Felix,” I crawled onto the windowsill, outstretching my hand for him to take. The cool night air felt like heaven on my sun-kissed skin. It reassured me that everything was fine outside, we could survive out there.
He was quaking in his shoes, staring at me like I’d grown a second head.“No-No way!”
I noticed the Zombies shadows were near the top of the stairs now. My muscles burned from carrying Felix but i managed to raise my arm and fire a barrage of lasers at the far wall. “You have to jump!”
One of the Zomb’s fired blindly around the corner, it’s laser struck inches from Felix’s face and burned through the window frame. Crystal tears fell from Felix’ eyes, the poor boy was so scared his knees were knocking together. “We’ll break our legs!”
“Better this then them,” I fired a few more warning shots at the stairs. “I’m jumping. Either you come with me or stay and die like your family, your choice.” It came out harsher than i had intended. Felix shook his head, stepping away from the window like he thought I was gonna throw him out.
I honestly felt bad for the kid, he’d just lost everything and wasn’t handling it very well. But he wasn’t the only one who’d lost people. My parents wouldn’t want me to die for someone who refused to save himself. They didn’t die for it all to end then and there.
With one last glance at the red-haired boy, I pushed off the window, landing with a roll. Before, I had thought all the training at base was just a waste of time, but now i was grateful for it. As soon as i was on my feet again. I took off running across the roof, vaulted over the guard and landed harshly on the next roof. Once on the third roof, I quickly glanced back at Felix’s plain gray house. I was just in time to see him plummet from the window, landing hard on his back. It would be seconds before the droids followed.
I almost considered leaving him there.
Run away, Coward. Let him die. Just like Bubble. Just like your parents.
Cursing myself, I leapt back across the rooftops. I run around the roof to avoid the lasers, firing back like a child-no aiming, just shooting in their general direction. There is no technique or skill, no proof I had years worth of blood loss and broken bones for experience. Time stills when i finally reached Felix, the lasers stopped firing for a moment. I grabbed him by his collar and dragged him to his feet. He fell onto me, still gasping in shock, winded from his fall.
My legs quaked under his weight as lasers melted into the roof around us once again. It took me only seconds to realize-i punched him. He held his cheek tenderly, but he must have gotten my message; get it together, because hestumbled after me, towards the edge of the roof.
The alley bellow wasn’t too much of a drop, shorter than the window but the landing area was thinner, less room to properly maneuver. My body was burning with exhaustion. I would have killed anyone if i could of lied down and slept right there. There was no way Felix was going to jump, I could see it in his face. He too, was completely spent.
“Tuck and roll,” I shoved him over the edge. He did not roll. Instead, he landed straight on his feet, collapsing face-first into the dry sand. In the corner of my vision, I could barely make out the shadows dropping onto the roof after us.
I sucked in a sharp breath as I jumped too. The wind rushed in my ears. I had done it. i had saved Felix. This time, I hadn’t run. I didn’t abandon him. For a moment I was too shocked to realize i was nearing the ground, too mesmerized with myself. The sand rushed up to greet me. Last second, I landed on the balls of my feet, tucked into myself, and rolled over my shoulder. As my whole body absorbed the painful impact, I grabbed Felix, who had just found his feet again, by his shaking arm and we stumbled down the dark alleyway together.
We had no choice but to run deeper into the Outskirts; in the opposite direction Falcon had gone.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
