Running • Iggy

Past

When we arrived where the other kids were, Iggy wasn't the first one to spot me. He was looking after one of the younger kids, who had gone blind quite recently in a similar way that he had. It was Nudge, who took one look at me before bursting into tears. She ran up to me and Fang. "A-are you okay? Citrus, are you okay?" She sobbed out, taking my arm before immediately letting go when it twisted in a way it shouldn't. Iggy spun at the sound of my name, his face paling until it was almost sheet white.

"Iggy, wait -" Max said as he rushed forward, getting in his way. "She's... She's not the same. Not right now, at least. She... She put a gun to Fang. She's not responding to a lot of what we're saying. Don't freak out, please. I know you've been dying to see her but... She's hurt." She had her hand on Iggy's shoulder, and only removed it when he took a careful step towards me, tears caught in his long eyelashes.

"Hey, sweetheart..." He murmured, his hands hovering like he didn't know what to do with them. "You... I've missed you, you know that?" He murmured, but when he tried to touch me I stepped back, away from them all. No. Stop it. You don't know what I've done. You can't touch me, you'll feel sick as soon as you learn you were touching a killer. "We need to go." Broghan choked out. "Come on. You guys help her, yeah? I'll get the other kids and-"

"I can't go." I said flatly, turning on my good leg and beginning to slowly walk down the hall again. My eyes didn't leave the floor, each step I took hurt. I was so tired. Tired. Tired...

"Cee, wait -" Iggy went to grab my good arm, and that's when a shot bounced off the floor by his feet. A silent warning. A command to leave me alone. He froze, pale as a ghost as he stared at the blood on my hands and the gun rested naturally between my fingers.

"Shit, she had another one?" Fang whispered, grabbing the back of Iggy's collar and hauling him behind him. "Citrus, why can't you go?" He asked carefully, holding his arms up in a surrender motion. I stood still, my eyes dulled to the point where I thought the world was becoming shades of grey.

"Tracking and alarm bracelet. Around my ankle." I said after a moment. "As soon as I step outside of this place, alarms will go off and the tracker will send signals through my body for my heart to shut down." The last part was a lie. I just needed them to give up. To stop trying. Iggy stumbled back, tears now trailing down his soft cheeks. I could remember running my hand over them as he slept, gently brushing the hair from his face.

"She's lying," Angel said, standing up straight. "About the heart thing." Shit. I thought, turning back around and starting down the hallway again. I didn't have the care or energy to move faster than a slow walk. Broghan was the one who caught me, and this time, I didn't fight. I just stood there as she knelt and used a strange appliance. After a few seconds, the ankle broke. It beeped twice, registering it was permanently disabled. "No excuse now. Come on."

-

I sat on the floor of the back of the plane. It was a small plane, especially for the 19 kids and 1 adult it needed to house. There were 6 seats total, sets of two next to each other in rows of three, at the front of the plane. At the back it was just a flat floor, where most of the rescued kids lay or sat. I sat with them, one knee bent and one straight, resting one of my arms on the bent leg. I could hear the flock whispering about me, and only barely registered the blood trickling down my cheek.

Iggy got up slowly, approaching me. As soon as he passed the last row of seats, I had my gun up directly up at his face without looking at him. He held his arms up, but still slowly approached. "I just want to... help you. With your cut. It's bleeding - please?" He murmured. With hesitation, I lowered the gun and allowed him to press a cool cloth to my cheek. I didn't look at him, couldn't bring myself to. I couldn't bring myself to see the tears still caught in his eyes.