Fifteen

Fang POV

I didn't know how long I had been running. It had started out easy, but the longer I kept this pace, the faster my energy was burning up. My chest felt tight, every breath burned, and my heart felt like it would explode at any moment. If I slowed down, the treadmill would trip me and I'd go down onto the rough sandpaper material. I had pins and needles all over, my hands were shaky and I just couldn't get enough air. I coughed in between breaths as my lungs struggled to cope with the demand. I felt my legs beginning to give out on me, saw my vision begin to tunnel out. And just like that, the treadmill slowed down to a walking pace. Surprised, I tripped over my shaky legs, and went down hard on the moving belt. I didn't go far though, as the treadmill halted all together. I lay on my back, panting hard, trying to slow down my chaotic heartbeat.

"53 minutes." A woman's voice said, sounding far away. My ears were ringing, my head pounding with my heart. "That's its baseline control."

"Great. Contain him, and send him to my bay." I recognized Jeb's voice, however. Straining, I forced myself over onto my hands and knees, looking up as Jeb just stepped out of the room. My arms shook under me, barely able to support my weight. Coughing, I just couldn't find the strength to stand. I could do nothing but glare at the whitecoat as they opened the door. She cuffed my wrists and tried to pull me to my feet.

"Move it." She ordered and finally got me to stand, my body tingling and numb. I could barely walk, feeling lightheaded and nauseous, yet she shoved me forward anyway.

Jeb POV

Fang lay on the metal examination table, his ankles and wrists strapped down. He was unconscious as his system tried to recover. I had a glucose and saline drip in his left arm to try and expedite that process. I had one of my volunteers douse him with warm water to try and help his system cool down as well, knowing that cold water could shock his system.

I was pleased with the data I had gathered during those 53 minutes. I would let him recover today, administer the drug this evening, allow him to adjust tomorrow, and then we'd set the first test. I'd be running him through another baseline control, then through a hot and cold test. I glanced up at the EKG machine next to me. His heart rate had recovered, returning to its natural resting pace. His breathing was still rather shallow and irregular, so I wanted to give him more time. As much as I wanted to run this experiment as soon as possible, my data would be useless if I forced too much too soon.

"Happy with yourself?" I glanced up at Fang, who was glaring at me through strands of wet, black hair. His soaked black T shirt clung to his sides, revealing his ribs. I stood with a smile.

"Quite. You ran impressively, Fang. Longer than I thought." I patted the clipboard of notes and paperwork on the table next to me. His dark eyes tiredly tracked my hand and he sighed, looking up at the overhead light. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I could tear your throat out." Fang hissed, but I could hear the exhaustion in his voice. I reached up to the saline bag and increased its drip amount. He glanced up at it and then down at his arm, as if he hadn't noticed it yet.

"Don't worry, this will help you feel better." I reassured him but got no reply. "I'm gonna leave you for a little while, so you can get some rest."

"Since when do you care about rest?" Fang growled, his eyes glaring. I only smiled.

"I've always cared, Fang."

Max POV

I leaned over Iggy's thin shoulder, watching his sensitive hands working over the metal wristband. He had managed to crack open the protective metal covering and now had its internal wiring exposed. As if he could see exactly what he was doing, he methodically tore several wires. The wristband winked out and unbolted, falling to the ground with a metallic clank.

"Yeah, Ig!" I cheered, patting his back. It was the first good news we had had in days. He grinned, his blue eyes showing traces of life again. He reached out and took my hand, beginning to work on my wristband as well. I have yet to come across any electrical object that Iggy couldn't crack or get around. Gazzy picked up the dead wristband and chucked it out over the rubble of Dunderville.

"How long till they come?" Angel asked nervously. I honestly had no idea, but I hoped that it was soon. I only needed Angel to try to communicate with one of the whitecoats, and if that didn't work, then we could still overpower them. Even if we were starving and weak, we could take on humans with little effort. I was only afraid of the Erasers if they decided to break them out. My wristband clanked on the ground, making me jump slightly. I grabbed it and chucked it.

"Just be ready, guys. Stick to the plan, and if the plan fails, improvise. We just need to get out of here, find Fang, and ditch this place. Doesn't matter how we do it." I clapped my hands together, feeling excited.

"The plan is just a whim." Nudge said nervously. "How do you even know it will work?"

"I don't." I answered honestly. "But I hope, and that's all we can do."

Jeb POV

"Sir, the subject's wristbands have gone dead. No vital signs from any of the 5." The doctor informed me, a look of panic on his face. I frowned and looked up at the monitors, each showing a flatline signal. I knew the flock was smarter than they let on, and I also knew that Iggy was exceptional at cracking electronics. They were telling us they were done waiting in the cold.

"Bring them in." I ordered and he nodded, lifting his radio to speak.

"Get 5 body bags ready, inform Dr. Munth she has 5 new cadavers-" I cut him off mid sentence.

"They're not dead, you idiot." I set the radio onto the desk.

"They're flatlining, sir. All of them."

"I'm not blind, nor stupid. And neither are they." I turned to leave. "Bring them to my medical ward."

I left before he had another chance to protest. It had been several hours since Fang had collapsed in the treadmill test, now was the optimal time to administer the drug. His system would still be healing and recovering. I stepped into the room to see him still asleep. But my mere presence and the air pressure change woke him. He opened his eyes and watched me carefully as I dosed his IV line with the new drug. It wouldn't show any outward signs of its effects.

"Here's to the future." I smiled, setting the empty syringe on the table. Fang only watched me, his head falling against the back of the table again. He was fighting exhaustion. I motioned for my doctors to enter with the transport. I would leave him overnight in a cell, and see him tomorrow.

Fang POV

I was too weak to resist as they wheeled me down the hallways on a transport gurnee. I knew where they were taking me, and I cursed myself for being unable to move. I still had the lingering taste of the food they forced down my throat, but according to Jeb it was supposed to help my recovery time. And by food, Jeb meant high energy packed mush that was easy to force feed.

"Lock it up." The whitecoat said to his counterpart as they lay me in the cell, slamming the door behind them. I noticed the bottle of water in the far corner, but I cringed as I tried to stand. I lay on my side, feeling light headed again and the curtains of darkness beginning to fall. I breathed slowly, trying to get out of this warped state of mind, but instead slipped into unconsciousness.