F.E.A.R.

Fire and Ferals

Sorry It's late and a little short, I hope you guys enjoy it. Awesome Jax banner was made by Ayumi_Chizu>>>

We piled into the back of a surveillance van; it had two benches on either side and not a seat belt in sight. I sat between Midnight, an antisocial and fairly dark Griffin-type, and Jax who I treated like an ingrown toe nail. Across from me sat another Flyer, probably Eagle- type, judging by her white hair and tawny wings. I gave her a small wave, and she flexed her wings a bit and smiled. She leaned forward and held out her hand. "I'm Sterling."

"Nix."I replied, shaking her offered hand.

"The Phoenix-type?" She asked, surprised. I nodded and she sat back again, staring at me.

"I thought you'd be..." She began, "Less pretty, and maybe a little bitchy."I winced.

"What a pleasant surprise!" She laughed, causing me to smile.

" Wait," Midnight interjected, " You are the Phoenix-Type?"

"Yes."

He quickly offered his hand. " I'm Midnight, not my real name, but that's all you get. It's nice to meet you in person. I never thought I would, being a night owl and everything."

I shook his hand, feeling confusion set in, "I thought you were a Griffin-type?"

"I mean night owl like up all night, sleep all day."

"Oh!" I felt incredibly stupid, and even more stupid when Jax chuckled next to me, obviously hearing my conversation. I crossed my arms over my chest and sat in silence the rest of the ride, pouting. I didn't stop pouting until I realized we were going over a bridge into Hoboken, New Jersey. Crossing over the Fence. I felt fear growing in the pit of my stomach, making my limbs tingle with a warming sensation, like my body was trying to comfort me. I needed the comfort, across the Fence was Feral Territory, and I had never been across the Fence before. I had never even seen a Feral, but I'd heard horrible stories about them and had seen a few Changelings that had been maimed but the creatures. Not a pretty sight.

"Jax," I whispered. "Won't they hear the van and come after us?"

"Not likely. We've mostly cleared them out. Scared?"

"No!" He smirked, ass.

"Besides, if they get too close you can just light 'em up for us."

"I can't control it that well!"

He shrugged, "Then I hope you learn fast."

* * *

The van stopped once we were secure in the parking garage at Hoboken University's Medical Center, and we all climbed out when the driver opened the back door. Abandoned cars sat all over the parking area and, to be honest, I was way creeped out. I'd done this kind of thing a hundred times, but always with Foxx or Artemis and never in the dark. We stood in a small, watchful circle and while a Cheetah-type named Raeah handed everyone weapons out of the back, Jax gave out the mission. He told us that a Flyer had shown up early at the University that morning (While my gang was rescuing Scientist Mark Wettle) and told them about a group of Changeling stragglers that were trapped in the Medical Center over in Hoboken, we were here to save them and bring them back to the University. Sounded simple enough to me. He spilt us in groups of three, Raeah, Sterling , and Jason in one group, Jax, Midnight and I in the other. The driver, a human named Joe, stayed with the van as did a Tech human named Shawnna, to man the radios.

Everyone went with at least a hand gun, a Feral in the building could be bad news. While most Changelings couldn't be infected by the Ferals sickly form of the F.E.A.R. virus that didn't mean it couldn't happen. We spilt up on the first floor, Jason's team taking the first floor and basement and Jax's taking the second and third. We saw no Ferals on our way up the stairs. But it didn't matter, the whole place was so damn freaky I was literally jumping at shadows. When we left the stairwell we turned our flashlights off to avoid being spotted if there happened to be any Ferals. Ferals had amazing hearing and eyesight, so something like a flashlight beam through an open window would be like a spot light. Or a sign that said: Hey, Come eat us! No, for real, we are obviously stupid for leaving our lights on and quite edible! And as I was thinking about how funny I was I heard a sound. It was a sound that said "You're right, you are quite edible.