"Here, we made steak for dinner." Wade sets the plate down in front of me.
It looks mouthwatering but my appetite has left. I let out a huff of air through my nose. I need to eat. Appetite or not.
"Ethan? What's wrong?" Wade takes a seat next to me. He looks genuinely concerned for me. I relax my shoulders and just lean against the table.
Tyler has decided to stay behind.
He wants to slow our attackers so the rest of us can escape.
"That sounds like Tyler." Wade replied.
But he could die! They could trap him or worse!
"Ethan, I understand that you are hurting but Tyler is allowed to make his own decision. Yes it is painful that he has decided to stay behind and sacrifice himself, but if he left with us then he would be subject to the horror of our deaths around him." Wade explains what Tyler had already said for himself. But what about the rest of us? Are we supposed to just accept his sacrifice?
Wade sits back in his seat and takes his time with his response, "Would you rather have Tyler leave with us and be struck with grief for the rest of his life or let him make his own path to ensure the rest of us safety and his peace of mind?"
I listen to his words and think about it.
It would be selfish of me to force Tyler to come with us. Is it wrong of me to wish to be selfish?
"No, it's not wrong. You are your own person. You are allowed to be upset with his decision especially with the tangled emotions of a Songbird and it may hurt you greatly." Wade shakes his head and then pushes the food to me.
"We don't know if Tyler will die. We cannot predict the future. For all we know we could all die."
"Wonderful words of encouragement." I make a face but begin to eat my dinner. I can do nothing to paralyze the pain that seems to squeeze my heart.
I want to be selfish.
"Ready for tomorrow?" Bob asks. He stands in front of the table.
"I guess, what's the plan?" I drink my water.
"We're splitting groups. Some of us will leave through the path Rose gives us. Some of us will use the underground tunnels that lead out of the basement. In case we don't go the same way, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your friendship." Bob gives me a smile.
I enjoyed our friendship as well. You know as much as I hated being trapped and turned, I made friends and in a way I think I made a family. I will miss all of you.
"Hopefully sometime in the future, we'll see each other again." Bob then parts ways to continue saying his goodbyes.
Wade excuses himself, saying his own goodbyes.
I set down my glass and look to my empty plate.
Felix follows his daughter over.
"Ethan."
I look up at the two, "Hailey, Felix."
"Are you ready?" Hailey asks.
"As I'll ever be." I reply.
"I wanted to thank you for being so stubborn." Felix grumbles, "You have changed so much in so little time."
"Which group are you leaving with?" Hailey glances around the room.
"I haven't decided yet." I admit.
"And Guardian?"
"He's staying behind." I break the truth to her.
"What? He's staying??" Hailey sounds heartbroken.
"Yeah, it's his decision. He just wants to make sure we can all leave."
"Staying?" Felix repeats before he makes a bit of a face. Are you angry? I can't tell if you are concerned or not.
Why must you have such a hard face to read? Felix stays silent as Hailey continues her goodbye with me before he excuses himself from us.
"I'm frightened." Hailey admits.
"Frightened?" I repeat.
"I have never seen the outside world, is it as terrible as some say?" She sits next to me.
"Well, yes and no." I answer honestly, "Some people are absolutely horrible but there is always good somewhere to balance it out. I have to say that you have a much better chance of making it out in the real world just based on your looks. All you have to do is keep your wings to yourself. Felix should be able to help you navigate." I explain.
The world was terrible and society was a horrible monster.
Escape is all we have or be used as weapons.
Escape or weapons.
To be shunned by society or to kill society.
"You'll be just fine." I pat Hailey's hand, trying to ease her nerves. She takes in a breath and then she gives me a nervous smile, "I trust you Ethan. You have done a lot for my Father and I wish there was some way to thank you."
"You don't have to thank me. Just live the best life you can." I smile back.

The night came faster than I expected.
The whole room felt tense and it made my stomach a bit queasy.
Tyler stood off near the doorway.
Mark, Jack, and Felix stood in front.
"Make sure you follow your group leader."
"Whenever you are ready Tyler." Jack looks over to the stone giant. Tyler nods his head before he shifts to a powerful stance. He's quiet for just a few seconds before letting out a loud shout. He pounds his fists into the ground.
Again silence.
Then the room begins to shake.
"What's happening!" Hailey jerks around in fear. The floor splits open and out come giant rock walls. They reach all the way to the ceiling, covering everything.
"I didn't know he could do that." I watch in awe.
"He doesn't do it often because it drains his energy." Wade mutters, "Whatever you do, don't waste his effort."
"Okay, everyone that follows me line up!" Jack calls. His group shifts to the side next to him. "Once we get to where we are going, I need you all to follow my every move. Do not panic. I will lead you to safety."
Mark makes his way to Jack, bringing him into a bittersweet kiss. Once they part, Jack grabs a hold of his group and they vanish in a blink of an eye.
"Rose you're up." Felix grumbles, gesturing to the one door that had been left unblocked.
"Right!" Rose makes his way over to the door. Felix follows with his group "Now this will set off the alarms. Everyone prepare yourselves to get as far away as you can. Tyler is giving us as much time as possible to escape!"
Mark turns to us remaining.
"I can open this portal and shift you all through. Bob and Wade will lead the rest of you." He rips the portal open as wide as he can, "Due to the nature of this portal and the amount of you going through, I can only drop you into the forest outside because I've seen it."
Suddenly we are met by a screeching alarm. Rose must've overrode the door.
"Is there going to be enough time for the basement group to get out??" I jerk around in fear.
"I'll make time." Tyler speaks up, "Just get out of here! Make it as far away as you can!"
Tyler wasn't kidding when he said they were watching us. Their response time to the alarm was inhuman.
"Ethan, let's go!" Bob yells, grabbing my arm to jerk me to Mark's portal.
"B-but!" I didn't have a second to think everything through. My heart felt like it was going to burst in my chest.
"Go go!" Mark encouraged me.
I stumble through the portal only to be dropped from the sky above the forest. I didn't have a second to think as I bounce off tree branches until the ground finally stopped my fall.
The echoes of gun fire make me jump up and jerk around until I can see the hospital. It was surrounded by the army itself. They really were guarding us. They must have some base super close by if they made it in less than ten minutes. The hospital looked as if Mother Earth had stabbed giant rocks straight through the building, creating walls between the outside and the inside. He's going to die!
They'll kill him!
"Ethan! Let's go!" Wade yells, his hand grips my shirt, jerking me back into the forest. "We have so much time! We need to use it now!"
"He'll die!" I yell back but I don't have the energy to fight Wade.
"Go go!" Bob shouts, the gun fire echoes around us again. The group has spread out through the forest but we all head in the same direction; away.
Away from the torture.
Away from the pain.
Away from the hell that they had been subjected to for years.

"I think we made it." Wade pants heavily. He was bent over with his hands resting on his knees.
Bob was looking around, also panting heavily, "I don't hear anyone nearby."
"What do we do now??" I glanced back at the group that was spread out behind us, all trying to catch their breath.
"For the moment, catch our breath." Wade moves to sit down on the ground. It was oddly hot, everyone was covered in sweat, dirt, and leaves from the trees we rushed through.
I turned back to where we had come from. It was so quiet here, other than the loud crickets. I wince and grip at my chest, sucking in a heavy breath.
If he's dead...
"We don't know that Ethan, try to remain calm." Bob speaks through his heavy panting.
"I'm doing the best I can!" I grit my teeth. I've never felt pain like this before. The transformation was nothing like this. Am I dying? Or is there something more uncontrollable about this than we realize??
I squeeze my arms, walking slightly away from everyone to ram my shoulder into a nearby tree, recalling Felix slowing the change with bodily pain. "After the break, we should head through that gap in the mountains." Wade points up at the mountain that sat just on the outskirts of the forest that we spent probably 40 minutes running through. "We might be able to disappear through there, or at least make them lose any trail they might have on us." The group mutters agreement with his suggestion.
"Something is coming!" Bob steps forward, but before anyone can move, Jack's group comes running up. A few stumbling over those that had sat down on the ground.
"Bob! Wade!"
Jack's loud voice sounds happy.
"Jack!"
The two grin and hurry to greet him.
"You made it!" They hug each other.
"Mark? Felix??" Jack questions.
"You're the first we have seen." Wade answers. Jack turns back towards the hospital, miles behind us, "They're still there?? I thought Mark was supposed to be right behind you."
"I don't know. Ethan was the last through. Mark might have closed it to keep the soldiers from following us." Bob shrugs, "I'm sure they are alright. They can hold their own quite well."
Jack mutters softly, immediately he bites the tip of his thumb so hard that blood begins to drip down his hand, "Ugh."
"It's alright Jack, they will be just fine." Wade steps up next to the shorter man and pulls him into a side hug, trying to comfort him. We were both suffering from the pain of the Songbird. Even though he had been changed long before me, he still did not have control over his emotions. "I know they are capable, but we have never fought humans with bullets before..." Jack speaks, his voice trembles and then he bites his thumb again. I shuffled over to stare back the way we came. We couldn't see anything due to the large trees that stood before us.
"How long should we give them before we go back to help??" I ask.
"We cannot go back and help. That would just make what Tyler did for us useless." Bob advised against my request. Wade drags his gaze over the people that surrounded us, "Alright everyone, time to get moving. Our goal is the other side of that mountain, straight through the gap." He points to what he was talking about.
"The mountain?" Jack turns his head to get a gander at our new goal. "And what if there is trouble on the other side?"
"We'll just have to take our chances." Wade frowns slightly as he didn't think about that. We didn't have time to consider our options. Wade and Bob begin to round everyone up and herd us towards the mountain. It was one of the most painful nights I had ever been through.