Drake and the Fliers

by Allison Maruska

  The bed was neatly made, and the floor and furniture were uncluttered. Preston had cared about his living space. Walking into the room, Drake recalled the dead animals on the field in Houston. The condition of that space was a far cry from where he now stood, and Talon was in the middle of that chaos.

  Drake walked back to his room, settled on the bed, and imagined scenarios of what he’d do to Preston when he found him. He could tackle the bird out of the air, scratch at him with his claws, or maybe use his fire.

  He winced and rolled onto his side as he tried to shove the images from his mind.

  As he dozed, a yell from outside brought him back to the present. He sat up and listened. Maybe the voice was part of his dream.

  Another yell, from a girl this time. A male voice shouting at someone joined a moment later.

  Drake stood and peered out the window.

  In the moonlight, Sonar and Scopes stood in their flier forms opposite another creature that looked like a hawk but was larger than Scopes.

  Drake shifted as soon as he was out the front door. Erica and Gray joined him from the neighboring houses.

  “There he is. Dragon Boy,” the bird said. He had a taunting, mature voice.

  Drake racked his mind to figure out how this thing knew him. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  Sonar answered before the bird could. “He was walking up and down the street. When I asked who he was, he lunged at me.”

  The bird laughed. “I was testing you.”

  “Testing? Testing what?” Drake asked.

  The bird jumped towards the group, making Drake flinch.

  The bird laughed again.

  “Why are you here?”

  “Let’s say your cover is blown. Phoenix told us to wait here. My girl’s gone ahead to report your position.”

  “But why here?” Drake feared he already knew the answer.

  “He knew you’d try.”

  A ball of liquid flew over Drake’s shoulder and landed by the bird’s feet. The bird jumped away as the acid ate a crater into the pavement. “What the hell, man? I was just talking.”

  “Tell us where she is,” Erica said.

  “You’re a girl! A girl who spits acid. How perfect is that?”

  She launched another acid ball, landing closer to him this time.

  “All right! Geez.” He lifted up.

  “Where is she?” Drake yelled.

  “You’ll figure it out. And he’ll be waiting.” The bird flew over the houses.

  Drake took off and followed him.

  The bird twisted his head around. “Back off.”

  “Like hell that’s happening. You’re gonna lead me to her.”

  “Why should I do that?”

  Drake launched a fireball that flew over the bird’s shoulder.

  The bird lost a few feet of altitude. “Shit! Are you crazy?”

  “Your buddy kidnapped my pregnant girlfriend to get to me. To make a point. And I want her back. Does that make me crazy?”

  “That girl’s pregnant?”

  “Why did you think she stopped shifting?”

  The bird dropped to the desert ground. Drake joined him. Why had the guy stopped?

  “You know me,” the bird said.

  “What?”

  He shifted to human form for a few seconds, long enough for Drake to recognize him, before shifting back to a bird.

  “You were in Denver. With Zeke.”

  He paced. “Yeah. Zeke said the girl couldn’t shift because she refused her animalism. Don’t use it, you lose it, you know?” He stared at his wing. “That was the first time I’ve shifted in weeks.”

  “Why are you talking to me? Why’d you stop?”

  “The kid is yours?”

  “Yeah.” Where was this going? This guy had helped Zeke assault him back in Denver. And now…what was happening?

  He nodded. “She’s safe. Well, as safe as she can be.” He looked at the sky and sighed. “I can’t tell you where Phoenix is. But he’s right; you’ll figure it out. You’re getting close.” He pushed off the ground.

  “Why are you telling me this?” There were only two reasons this guy would talk to him: either something about Talon made him sympathetic, or he was setting them up to walk into a trap.

  The bird hovered over Drake. “Don’t follow me. It’ll be better if you find her yourself.” He flew off, heading west.

  “Why? Where is she?” Drake caught up to him.

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Dammit!” Drake flew himself into the bird. Their wings tangled, and they both fell to the earth.

  Drake pinned the bird as the fire built in his chest.

  “I can’t tell you. I don’t want to be alone.”

  “What if I torch you right now?” Drake inhaled.

  “It’s better than what your old friend will do.”

  Drake turned his head and heaved the fireball into a shrub. “What are you talking about?”

  “He kicks people out. Ostracizes them if they disobey him. He’s threatened to kill anyone who talks to the outcasts.”

  “What?” Drake stepped back, allowing the hawk to stand. “He’s killed people?”

  “Not yet. He’s only kicked one out, a couple weeks ago. He’d kick me out if he knew I was talking to you.”

  Preston threatened his group with isolation. Ironic, considering his own family did that to him when they found out he was gay.

  Maybe that’s how he knew it would be an effective threat.

  “So why not find another group? Our group?”

  He shook his head. “My friends are there. My girlfriend. Plus…” He glanced at his wing. “I don’t want to lose this, you know?”

  “That won’t happen. Phoenix lied to you.”

  “Still. I think it’s possible. I’m gonna go. Don’t follow me. It’s better for her and for me. You can find her on your own. Just think it through.” He took off.

  ****

  Drake found the others in the street, where they’d started to gather their things. Rather than fuss with his clothes, he stayed a dragon and asked Gray to get his stuff from inside the house.

  “Why would it be better if you find her?” Scopes asked.

  “I have no idea. That’s not the part that bothers me, though.”

  “What part bothers you?”

  “He said ‘she’s safe’ and ‘I can’t tell you where he is’. He separated them. I don’t think Talon is with Phoenix.”

  “That would mean he’s hiding her somewhere,” Terry said.

  “Phoenix would go straight to Talon, if we find him first and she’s not with ‘em,” Sonar added.

  “Yeah.” Drake looked west again. “That’s why it would be better for her. We have to find her first. Otherwise Phoenix will fight from wherever she is. She’ll be in the middle of it.”

  “But why separate her in the first place, if that’s what happened?” Scopes asked.

  “She’s been really sick. Maybe they didn’t want it in their faces. Or…” Drake glanced at his backpack, where he’d put the rattle. “This is part of the game. If we guess wrong and find Phoenix first, Talon’s in more danger and he has the upper hand. That means she’s somewhere that means something.”

  “Okay. Where would that be? The zoo, since he’s so crazy about the animals?”

  “Maybe.” Drake considered all the places in California where Preston would hide Talon, somewhere Preston would think was a way to get to Drake again, like with the rattle. “Or maybe not.”

  Drake took off and headed west, not caring if the rest of the group followed. He had to see if he was right.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Terry caught up with Drake and convinced him to wait for the others. Everyone else must have sensed Drake’s urgency, because they were all in the air five minutes later.

  Unable to reach San Francisco in a day, the group settled in a forest. Drake constructed a fire, and the others sat close by while Terry and Gray set up th
e tents.

  “What do you know about Talon?” Drake asked Erica. She stood as close to the fire as she could without literally being in the middle of it.

  “Talon?”

  “Christina.”

  “Oh, right. What did she shift to?”

  “An owl. What didn’t you want to tell me before?”

  Erica held her hands closer to the fire. “You won’t like it.”

  Drake stared at the flames for a few seconds. “Tell me anyway.”

  She rubbed her hands together. “All right.” She turned and darted into the trees.

  Drake followed her. “Is it that bad?”

  “Probably not something you want everyone to know, since you’re her boyfriend.”

  “So what is it already?”

  She stopped him in the middle of a group of trees and looked back to the fire, then leaned close to him. “She had a thing with a teacher.”

  Drake leaned away. “A thing?”

  “Yeah. Do I have to spell it out?”

  “But that can’t be right. She said she only had one boyfriend…and he made her go faster than she wanted to.”

  “That might be true. He was also her physics teacher.”

  “Are you sure?” This had to be the result of rampant rumor spreading. But would Talon offer that information?

  Why would she? The teacher was dead, and aside from her brother, she’d likely thought everyone else at her school was too. She’d probably thought that part of her past was safely buried.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. The guy was a new teacher. Pretty cute. He was fired and arrested, and she almost transferred to another school. It was pretty awful for her.” She sighed. “Look, it doesn’t matter now, right?”

  Unable to find words, Drake nodded.

  Erica stepped away. “I’m freezing. I’m going back to the fire. We can talk about it later, if you want.”

  Drake stood alone among the trees.

  He couldn’t decide if he was angry Talon hadn’t told him the truth or that she’d slept with a teacher. A grown man who had authority over her. He might have persuaded her into a relationship for a passing grade or some other perk. Or she might have pulled him into it, as a way to manipulate him into giving her passing grades. It would be the perfect blackmail.

  Drake scrunched his nose, disgusted. Talon wasn’t the kind of girl to be so manipulative. That meant the teacher was at fault.

  Or maybe they had genuinely cared about each other.

  He put his hands on his head and groaned, frustrated with his inability to come up with the answer. How could he? The only one who knew what happened was Talon.

  He’d have to ask her if he wanted to know the truth.

  ****

  Drake led the group as they soared over San Francisco Bay. Before the virus, on every Fourth of July, his family had stationed themselves on the shore and watched fireworks displays here. The colorful explosions reflected off the water, captivating the attention of anyone who saw them. If any humans had survived and seen Drake and the other fliers today, with their huge wingspans shadowing the water, they would watch with the same awe.

  The fliers landed near a marina on the west side of the bay, and Drake faced the group. “I’m going to my house. Phoenix and I stopped there before we found you guys in Vegas, so he knows where it is. I think he’s keeping Talon there.”

  “But what if he’s there?” Scopes asked.

  Good question. Drake was convinced that either Talon or Preston would be at his house; it fit perfectly into the game of personal jabs. He just didn’t know which one he’d find.

  “Is there a way to see the place without them knowing?” Gray asked.

  Drake mentally scrolled through the landmarks around his house. “We’d have to sneak up to it. The neighbor behind us had a big shed. We could hardly see his house from ours. If we break into his house and look out from there, we can at least see if there are fliers around.”

  Terry peered up at the sky. “So we shouldn’t be in the air. They’ll spot us easier.”

  “Have any of you seen any fliers, though?” Erica asked.

  No one answered.

  Drake’s confidence plummeted. He’d been so sure Talon was here, but Erica was right. There were no fliers around. “Let’s head there anyway. It’s not close to here. Maybe they aren’t flying right now.” It felt like a vain hope.

  With everyone in human form, Drake led the way through the city. At first, he traveled between buildings and houses, but after not seeing any fliers for a while, he walked down sidewalks. He started to wish they would attract attention from someone in Preston’s group, so he’d know they were here.

  He scanned the tops of the buildings again. Preston would have posted his cronies as lookouts.

  If Talon wasn’t here, where would they go next?

  As they walked alongside Buena Vista Park and approached Drake’s old neighborhood, a shadow flew over them from behind. A moment later, a huge flying lizard landed in front of them.

  On hind legs, it stood nearly as tall as Terry in flier form. The sun reflected off its iridescent, greenish-brown reptilian skin, and its wings were thin enough for light to shine through them.

  The lizard fell to all fours, paced in front of the group, and said in a male voice, “We knew you’d come, but we didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to walk in the open.”

  Drake was relieved, until he remembered this guy could report them to Preston.

  A ripping sound came from behind Drake as Erica shifted out of her clothes, towering over the humans. “You guys go. I’ll take care of this.”

  “Take care of this?” The lizard lifted his wings and arched his back, spitting a ball of acid at Erica. Half of it landed on her foot.

  “Augh!” She shook her foot. The skin bubbled and steamed, and she squeezed her eyes closed for a second before focusing on the group. “Get out of here! Go!” She groaned and heaved an acid ball at the other lizard, who jumped away. The acid burned a crater into the sidewalk.

  Drake ran for the buildings across the street. He and the others ducked into an alley between two shops and looked back at the battling reptiles.

  “We should keep going,” Scopes said.

  Erica and the other lizard moved around one another, spitting and dodging acid balls. She limped on her front foot and eventually rose to her two back legs, allowing her front legs to hang in front of her. Drake couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought he saw bone through the burn injury.

  “We can’t do that.” Drake shifted as he ran back out to them.

  The lizard shot an acid ball. It flew over Drake’s shoulder. Drake hurled a fireball back.

  It hit the lizard in the stomach. He screamed and fell to the ground as his skin peeled and blistered.

  Drake stood over him and put his front legs on his shoulders, pinning him down. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to shift to human form. We’ll take care of the burn. But you’re staying with us. If you try to leave, I’ll torch you. Got it?”

  The lizard rapidly nodded. Drake released him, and he shifted to an older teenager with brown skin and tight curls against his head. Drake waved Terry over and told him to bring some extra clothes, but Terry stopped on the way, glaring at the guy. “Were you in Salem?”

  “Salem? The hell are you talking about?” He groaned.

  “You look an awful lot like the thing that killed our friend.”

  Drake held his breath. If this guy killed Brody, how could they allow him to join them, even if he did know where Preston was?

  Lizard Boy held up his hands in an act of surrender. “Look, man. I didn’t kill anyone. Okay?”

  Terry leaned closer, staring the guy down. “You’re lying.”

  Erica yelled as she put on her shirt. The acid had eaten away the flesh covering the back of her hand, exposing muscle and bone through the round wound.

  Terry glanced at her, then focused on the burn victim. “It was like that, only on my frie
nd’s whole face and chest.” Terry shifted to his pterodactyl form, towering over the guy, whose eyes widened fully. “I want to know why.” He put a foot on the burned flesh.

  Lizard Boy screamed. “Okay! It was an accident.”

  “How do you accidentally hurl acid at someone?”

  “The dude flipped me off. I aimed for the truck bed and missed.”

  Drake walked over to them. “Missed? Your aim was perfect enough to kill him.”

  Terry increased pressure on the burn.

  “It was an accident. I swear!” He broke down into sobbing. “That was the first day I spit acid. I couldn’t control it.” He squeezed his eyes closed.

  Terry took off and landed on a roof overlooking them.

  After shifting, Drake put his arm around the guy’s shoulders and lifted him to his feet. “What’s your name?”

  “Eli.” He yelled when he tried to stand up straight.

  Sonar held Erica’s injured hand. “Does anyone know how to treat this?”

  Scopes walked out to the street. “Come on. Let’s find a drugstore.”

  ****

  With Eli’s and Erica’s injuries wrapped, the group made their way to Drake’s old neighborhood. As they walked, Scopes flipped through a first-aid book they’d found at the store, since none of them knew if what they did would help. They might have done the exact opposite of what they were supposed to do in treating the wounds.

  “Where are you going?” Eli asked, breaking the silence he’d maintained in the hour since they left the drugstore.

  Drake twisted around. “Why? Does it look familiar?”

  “No.”

  “Where’s Preston?”

  Eli glared, then closed his eyes and groaned, as if pain rushed through his body. “I’m not helping you. You can’t beat him anyway.”

  Drake stopped and spun around, nearly making Eli walk into him. “Fine. Maybe I can’t beat him. I’m here to find a girl. Know anything about that?”

  Eli stared, silent.

  The rest of the group stopped, watching them.

  Drake shoved Eli on his burn.

  Eli yelled, closed his eyes, held his breath, then exhaled. He opened his eyes. “You’re proving him right.”