Chapter 27

Part 3: Exodus/Insodus Chapter 27: Life Must Go On Nudge POV A week ago today, was defiantly the worst day of my life. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was the worst day the flock had ever had. I could handle always being on the run, having the occasional scrap with Erasers or Flyboys, or even getting captured by the school every now and again, just about. But I don’t think any of us could properly cope with losing Gazzy. He’d been our family, like a brother to us. Hell, he was Angels’ brother. And now it felt like a part of me had gone. Knowing that he was never coming back was too much to handle. All of us were coping with it in our own ways. I needed to talk about it and let it all out, but none of the others seemed to want to. Angel had barely said a word all week, just keeping her head down and being quiet and Iggy was acting like a zombie, barley reacting to anything anyone said or did except with a small grunt. Will kept going off on his own for long periods of time, sometimes with Emily, but usually without, leaving her with us. Fang didn’t seem to be affected at all. He was as silent and emotionless as he ever was. And Max was trying to carry on like everything was normal, except at night when she would sneak off somewhere. I followed her one night, and found her sobbing silently against a tree. Me, Angel and Iggy were all sat around the campfire in the middle of the forest. We were about a mile inland from the coast, though we generally steered clear from it. Too many bad memories. Max and Fang had left to go to a nearby town to find some food and supplies to bring back. Will had gone off somewhere again, taking Emily this time. We were all sat, staring at the flames. I could tell we were going to need some more firewood soon, but I didn’t feel like getting any. It had been like this most days, none of us really felt like doing anything. We needed time to adjust. I kept thinking about the braces that Angel had bought back. I had one of them in my pocket, and kept running my finger over it. I knew it couldn’t be right, that it was impossible, but I could see him there, as clear as day. I saw Gazzy, strapped up, inside the helicopter, the pilot jumping out, and then there he was. Will, coming in, trying to save him, but failing, and then jumping out, before the helicopter crashed and exploded. I kept fixating on that more than Gazzy dying recently. I couldn’t get my head round it. He had been there with us, and whoever was in the helicopter with Gazzy was wearing different clothes and had small differences about him. No scars, slightly different hair. I just couldn’t figure it out. I wanted to ask him about it, but I was suspicious of him. Maybe he had something to do with Gazzy’s death. I wanted to speak to Max about it, but it was hard to get to talk to her about it with everyone’s current state. It was when I was thinking about this, that Angel suddenly spoke. “What do you mean he must be Will’s twin?!” She said curiously. I looked up from the fire, and saw she was staring at Iggy now. He looked shocked, and his mouth was agape slightly, as if he was trying to say something, but didn’t know what to say. It was the most I’d seen him do all week. “He was invisible, but you could see him? He’s Will’s brother or clone? What do mean Iggy?” She asked incredulously. Then she looked at me. “And what do you mean it must be the same person you saw?”

“Hey!” I said to her, defending myself instinctively. “You shouldn’t eavesdrop on people like that! It’s rude!” “Well you know I can’t always control it.” She sounded back. “Besides, don’t change the subject. How could you keep something like that from Will? Look what happened last time!” “Well... I was just...” I stammered, trying to think of something. “What do you expect Angel?” Iggy said. “Gazzy’s dead, Will’s off being all emo all the time. It’s not like I’ve had the chance. I’m guessing that’s why Nudge hasn’t said anything. Right Nudge?” I nodded in agreement, slightly shocked at Iggy’s bluntness. “What did you see?” he asked me, leaning forward. “Umm, the brace, that Angel got from the helicopter. I saw Will, or someone who looked like Will, come in while the helicopter was crashing, and try to save Gazzy. But he couldn’t do it, and jumped out just before the helicopter crashed.” I explained carefully. “What about you?” Iggy, sat upright again, and tilted his head up slightly. “During the fight, I saw something. I actually saw something. I flew towards it, and it was like a bubble, filled with...” He broke off trying to think. “I don’t know how to explain it. It was like I could see the air in the bubble, but nothing behind it. It was almost just light.” “Anyway, in the bubble was this boy. He looked just like Will had described himself to me, and he sounded exactly the same.” Iggy paused. “He knew things. He knew who I was, and that I was blind. He knew our names and that some of us have special abilities. He said his name was Alex, and that he had to see if Will was alright. He said he was invisible and that I shouldn’t be able to see him at all. Then he disappeared.” Me and Angel looked at each other awkwardly. “So you could physically see him?” I asked Iggy. He nodded slowly in reply. “But how?!” “I don’t know. But it looks like when he was invisible I could see him, and when he wasn’t, I couldn’t...” he pondered. “I’m confused.” Angel said. “Join the club.” Iggy muttered. “Well do you think we should tell him?” I asked them. “Yeah, I think we should.” Iggy said, standing up. I stared at him, unsure. “What, now?” “Yep, now. Why not?” he said bluntly. “Shouldn’t we talk to Max and Fang about this?” Angel asked worriedly. “No, he deserves to know now. Besides, Fangs probably not going to care and Max isn’t exactly herself anyway. I’m no sure she’d take it all in properly.” He said quickly. “So, where is Will?” “I can find him.” Angel said confidently standing up too. “Great.” Iggy said and then looked towards me. “Are you coming?” I looked at him, and at Angel, and then sighed. “Yeah sure, why wouldn’t I?” Will POV So this was it? This is what I had come to? Standing on the edge of a 50 foot cliff, wings tucked firmly in, ready to jump onto the rocks and waves below? I don’t know how I had gotten to the place I was at, but I did know I wanted it to end. This seemed like the simplest and easiest way. It would probably be best for everyone. It wasn’t like anyone would miss me. Emily might, but she’s young, and would be able to move on with her life.

But why was I still holding her if I was going to do this. Why hadn’t I left her back with the others? I had already decided that I was coming here to do it, but then why did I bring her? Did a part of me want to take her with me? I couldn’t exactly leave her all alone in the world. I wouldn’t have any guarantees that the flock would take her in. She was asleep over my shoulder, she wouldn’t realise it was happening. Neither of us had anything or anyone except each other. It would only be fitting. I looked down at the sea below, the waves silently lapping the rocks below. It was so peaceful, so serene, and so perfect. So why haven’t I done it yet? I wanted to leap off, just to end it, so I never had to remember that night a little over a week ago ever again. I thought about Gazzy, how it was my fault he had died. If I hadn’t of found the flock again, the Erasers wouldn’t have found them. They were following me, and I led them straight to the flock. Everywhere I went now, only bad things happened, always because of me. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that we had been dragged into this horrible world. I was happy living a normal life, with my parents, going to school, having friends, not having to worry about getting killed by flying werewolves all the time. I thought back to what Jeb had told me, that my real parents were like me, that they had wings. But how had I gotten wings? I never had them before I was taken, and Emily had never had them either. What had they done to us during the 6 months when we were captured? I didn’t want to know. “Will?” a voice behind me said, “What are you doing?” I turned my head, to see Nudge, Angel and Iggy, standing by the tree line, staring at me. “Eeeerm,” I said, trying to think of something. “Nothing.” Wow, great thinking there Will. “Were you going to jump, Will?” Nudge asked shocked. I looked down at the sea again and then back at them. “Yeah.” I replied slowly “Jump off what?” Iggy asked Nudge, sounding irritated. “A cliff.” She said, not taking her eyes off me. “A cliff?!” Iggy said loudly, and then looked towards me. “Why would you want to do that?” “Well... I... I...” I stammered. “He blames himself for Gazzy dying.” Angel said quietly. “He thinks it was his fault.” “No! Well, yes but...That’s not why.” I sighed. “Well then what is, Will?” Nudge asked. “You wouldn’t understand!” I shouted at them angrily. “You don’t know what it’s like!” “Don’t you say that! We lost Gazzy too! We’re on the run too you know?!” Nudge shouted back. I half laughed at her as she said this. “You think you’ve got problems, that your life is so bad. You have no idea!” I cried, turning to face them completely. “Look, I’m sorry that Gazzy died, really, I am, because believe me, I know what your going through. And that’s just it. You’ve still all got each other, you can all carry on with what life you had before, and no, it won’t be the same, but it’ll be pretty close, even if it is moving from place to place.” “But me? I lost my home, my friends, my whole family. I lost everything and everyone that I have ever cared about, except for Emily. And she doesn’t even realise that she’s lost it all too. There’s nothing at all left for us.” “That’s not true Will! You do have someone who cares about you.” Angel piped in. “Oh yeah? Well who’s that?” I said mockingly.

She suddenly looked timid, and glanced up at Nudge, who then glanced at Iggy, and gently nudged him in the side. Iggy breathed deeply and said, “I, um... I think you have a brother.” I stared at him for a second before exclaiming “What?!” very loudly. Iggy sighed and said “During the fight, over the channel, I met someone, who said he had to make sure you were okay. He sounded just like you, and he looked just like you described yourself. I think he was your twin.” I blinked, completely confused. “I saw him too.” Nudge said. “He was in the helicopter just before it crashed.” “Okay...” I said slowly. “I’m going to guess you saw him when you had the braces Nudge?” She nodded in reply. “And I’m not going to even begin to guess how you saw him Iggy. How do I know you’re telling me the truth? You could just be telling me what I want to hear.” “I can show you.” Angel said. “I can put what Iggy and Nudge saw into your head, so you can see for yourself.” “Well do it.” I said quickly, wanting to see this person for myself. Angel closed her eyes, and frowned hard, as if she was concentrating really hard. Suddenly I had a low throbbing headache as the images poured into my head. I saw a series of images, like a comic book, of what nudge and Iggy had described. A boy, looking exactly like me. Suddenly, the headache strengthened and sharpened, and my vision went dark. I fell to my knees, and clutched my head, dropping Emily onto the grass. My head hurt like mad, and more images flooded into me. A girl with long, sleek brown hair, looking down at me smiling, a large, dark red dining room, with a long wooden table in it, a man injecting something into my arm, the boy, playing happily with Emily inside a bedroom, the girl again, her hands on either side of my head, her face concentrating fiercely on something. Then the images stopped, and the headache subsided, just as quickly as they had started. I opened my eyes, and looked at Iggy, Nudge and Angel, who had run over to make sure I was alright. “Alex.” I breathed. “His name was Alex.” Angel POV “Alex. His name was Alex. He is my twin” he said, sounding confused. “Will, are you okay?” Nudge asked, as she picked up a confused Emily. “How did you do that?” Will asked me, ignoring Nudges question. “Do what?” I replied. “And how did you know his name? I didn’t send you any sounds, only images.” “Will what’s going on?” Iggy said. “Enough with the questions!” He shouted suddenly. “How did you do that?” he asked me again, stressing each word. “What did I do?!” I said worriedly. He looked around, as if dazed and said, “I saw something. Like flashes. I think it’s what happened to me before I met you guys.” “You mean from the six months missing from your life when the Whitecoats had you?” Iggy asked. Will nodded, and then remembering Iggy couldn’t see, said “Yep. I saw Alex. And a girl and someone injecting me with something. It was strange. But he’s defiantly my twin. He’s the older one, by about 15 minutes...” he trailed off. “Will, how do you know that?” Nudge asked, sounding as bemused as I was feeling. “I don’t know. It’s like I... it’s like I remember.” He pondered. Nudge looked at me curiously and then asked, “Angel, did you...?”

“I don’t know what I did.” I said quickly. I wasn’t even sure if I had done it, whatever it was. “Yeah, well the point is Will, you do have someone. You have a brother, who, from the last I saw, was looking out for your wellbeing.” Iggy said, heaving Will onto his feet. “So why don’t you come back to the camp with us, and start acting normal.” “In fact, we can all start acting normal. Gazzy’s gone. We need to just deal with it, and stop moping around. It’s not going to get us anywhere.” Suddenly a thought popped into my head. I thought about it for a second, before sending it to Nudge and Iggy. What if he already knew about Alex? What if he’s just acting? Don’t be stupid, you would have picked up on something like that ages ago. Iggy sent back, and transmitted it over to Nudge. Wait, maybe Angel’s right. Isn’t it a bit convenient? Like Will’s “brother” showing up just like that, trying to save Gazzy. The way he was acing, it was like something had gone wrong. What reason would Alex have to try to save Gazzy? Maybe Will does have something to do with it. Nudge thought. You’re both being stupid. Iggy retorted. We’ll talk about this later; I can’t concentrate on this and getting back to camp. Later that evening, Will and Emily were fast asleep, and we had grouped away from the campfire, to discuss what to do. “Look I just don’t think we should be jumping to conclusions like this, your basing all of this on absolutely nothing!” Iggy hissed at Nudge. “How am I basing this on nothing?” Nudges retorted back in a hushed tone. “He’s betrayed us once before, who’s to say he won’t do it again? How do we know everything that has happened since the start was planned out like this?” “Okay, I’ll admit, we don’t know, but what right do we have to assume?” Iggy whispered. “We’ve got every right! We don’t really know what he is capable of. How did he find us again, back in England? He knew where we were! How is that possible?” Nudge replied. Iggy was silent, trying to think of something. “Maybe he’s more powerful than we thought, maybe he isn’t telling us everything.” She continued. “But Angel would have picked up on that.” Iggy said. “I haven’t gotten anything from him Nudge, maybe he’s clean.” I joined. “Or maybe, he’s like that guy in Birmingham. That Dr. You couldn’t pick up anything from him either. Maybe Will can do that!” She said hurriedly, glancing over at him. “Shouldn’t we talk to max about all this?” I said, yawning. “Yeah where is Max?” Iggy pondered. “She’s been gone hours.” Almost as if she was hiding in the bushes waiting for her cue, we heard her voice over the trees. “Fang, for crying out loud! You’re over reacting! Don’t do this!” she shouted as she and Fang shot into view. They landing clumsily, and Fang instantly headed for his stuff, and Max held her head in her hands. “No, I’ve given you, and him, every chance!” Fang shouted back. “Well I’m through giving chances! I’m through with taking the back seat!” Will had woken up now, and all of us were staring curiously at the spectacle happening before us. What had happened while they were gone? Fang packed his stuff into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder forcefully, and stared at Max hard.

“It’s time you decided.” Fang said sternly, pointing cruelly at Will. “Either he goes, or I go.”