Gray Feathers

Chapter 4: Judgement

(A year into the future)

A bird flew past my face as I flew from tree to tree, searching for any signs of suspicious activity. My group, made up of Jess, Cathy, Ethan, Jack, and I, was assigned to patrol around the East borders of the US. A year had passed since that day, but this time, we were the ones ready to strike back. The Academy, with the help of the students, managed to locate that the terrorist group was still hiding in the US borders. We were here to make sure that no one crossed without knowledge of the government.

"Nex? Come in, Nex." My radio on my belt went off. Still scouting around, I un-clipped it from my belt and held it up to my mouth.

"I'm here, Jess. What's up?"

"Ethan talked with some of the bugs in the area. He said that the bugs did see someone pass by. The bugs led us to tracks. Tracks that shouldn't be there. Jack is going ahead with Ethan, and Cathy is gonna try and see if she can cut this guy off. Could you fly above and scout around?"

"Of course, what are the coordinates?" Jess listed the cords. I quickly typed them into my phone, and the area came up. "Alright, on my way, over." I clicked off, and leaped off the tree, disturbing a blue jay as I flew by.

I checked my phone to see if I was heading in the right direction. I was the blue dot on the screen, and where I needed to be was the red dot. The phone showed I was steadily moving in the right direction. I dodged many trees before I decided to fly above the canopy.Suddenly, I spotted fresh tracks in a clearing. I checked the phone and sure enough, I was at the coordinates. I carefully followed the tracks. Another set of tracks followed right alongside. I figured that was Ethan. The tracks wound through the woods, twisting and turning so much, at one point, I thought I had gone in circles.

"Nex!" my radio screamed at me. In a panic, I fumbled it out, and held it up to my ear. Before I could ask, Jess continued speaking. "Nex! We need you! Right now! We found him, but he has Legacies! Or something, we don't know! We could use your help! NOW-" The radio suddenly cut off but not before I heard a crash.

"Shit," I growled, flying as fast as I could. As soon as I got closer to the edge of the coast, the more I could hear what was happening, instead of just following the tracks.

A clearing came into view and I had to hover in the air to fully take in what the fuck was going on. A dark, oily like substance covered the ground. In the middle was a tall man, in a business suit, with a briefcase.

I spotted Jess up against the tree, as if she was thrown there, she looked up at me, but her expression was pained. She must have broken something, or many things. Cathy was on the ground, clearly unconscious, blood running down from a wound in her head, her leg was bent at an odd angle. Ethan was kneeling on the ground, the black oil stuck to him like gum. He was bleeding from a branch that was stuck in his arm, like an arrow. I looked around for Jake, and he was also down, an entire boulder sat on his chest. He looked too tired and weak to phase through it. The black oil surrounded him as well.

"Well, well, well, looks like there's another toy to play with," the man spoke, looking right at me. I've seen eyes that were so dark brown they looked black, but his eyes were black. There wasn't even a sparkle, even as he looked up at the sun towards me.