Air Born | Generation Icarus #1

Victoria - Bird Boy

Later, while the three of us sat around the campfire, digesting dinner, Miguel was the one to raise the obvious problems.

"We're going to run out of food tomorrow, and now we don't have any tents."

"It won't take long for people to track us here, either," I said. "Especially if we keep making that much noise."

Miguel stretched out his wings, his feathers shimmering as they caught the flickering firelight. "Definitely time to move on."

"But where will we go? And how will we get there?" Tyler demanded.

"Um," I said.

Their large eyes swung around to me.

"Yeah?" Tyler prompted.

"I have a vehicle."

"Wait, you do?" He leaned forward. "What kind?"

"It's my stepdad's old pickup," I said. "He uses ... used it for hunting and fishing trips. That sort of thing."

"Where is it?"

Checking the map on the smartphone, I pointed to the southeast corner. "Back there. There's a parking lot at that entrance to the main trail. That was where the Angelists congregated before starting their pilgrimage thingy to find you. So, if it's still there, then we could use it to go ... wherever we're going. We can take turns driving."

Miguel waved a hand. "I can't drive."

"I can," Tyler said. "I mean, I don't actually have my license but I know how."

"If a cop pulls us over, driving without a license will be the least of our problems," I said.

"But where will we drive to?" Miguel said.

"Now we're off the ground, we need wide open spaces to practise flying properly." Tyler poked the fire, speaking slowly as if he was thinking out loud. "Birds use thermals to help them save energy, right? What about ... the desert? That would be where the biggest thermals are."

"And the fewest people," I added, turning the idea over in my mind.

"You want us to go and camp out in the desert?" Miguel said. "Have you ever been to the desert?"

"I'm not saying in the middle of the desert," Tyler said, sounding increasingly enthusiastic, "but somewhere near the edges where it's not so intense."

"We don't have any other ideas or options so we could at least visit and check it out," I suggested. "We can always change our minds and go somewhere else."

"True," Miguel said. "But don't expect me to be any use. I've lived in cities all my life."

Tyler slouched down against his log, stretching out in front of the fire. "I've done a few survival courses and camped in the desert before. If there's anything we don't know, we'll make it up as we go along. It's worked all right so far."

"We can't move out without any plan. There's the small matter of food to start with."

"And I think we'll need to get fuel for the truck, too," I said.

"What about that little town we came through to get here?" Tyler waved in its general direction. "Miguel, you could go into the supermarket for another run, couldn't you?"

"That place is crawling with Angelists and hunters and nosy people," I said, shaking my head. "They'll spot us a mile off, especially you, Tyler. They know what we all look like, now."

Tyler tossed a branch on the campfire. The flickering light deepened his frown. "Sometimes I wish ..."

After a moment, I guessed. "That this had never happened?"

He sighed, ran his hand through his already-tousled brown hair, and nodded. "I'd still be at home, I'd still have a life. I just wish I knew why."

Miguel was running a couple of dry leaves through his fingers, making them appear and disappear again. "I think there is a bigger purpose," he said, quietly. "This can't be coincidence."

There was silence for a while, broken only when a burning log collapsed.

"While I was running," Ty said, "at first, anyway, it seemed kind of exciting. Like a movie."

"What kind of movie?" I asked.

His mouth twisted into the ghost of a smirk. "At first I was imagining a spy or action flick. But then I started thinking about superhero movies."

I shifted so I was sitting cross-legged, my wings relaxing behind me in a gentle droop, stretching across the leaf litter. "If you're going to be a superhero, you'll need a secret identity, or a code name."

"Bird Boy?" Miguel suggested, and Tyler threw a handful of leaves at him. Miguel laughed batting them out of his face.

"I'd be so much more awesome than Bird Boy," Tyler said, snorting.

"All right then," Miguel said. "Bird Man?"

"Birdman and Robin," I added, starting to laugh. "Weren't you talking about being Robin Hood, before?"

Tyler groaned. "No thanks. External underwear and leggings aren't really my style."

"I'm getting the feeling you've already picked out your name."

"Well, I had a few ideas ..."

"You can't bring it up and not tell us," I said, after his silence trickled on too long.

"Nah, now I know you'll just laugh at me." Tyler slid down until he was lying flat on his partly-unfolded wings, which formed N shapes to either side of him. He crossed his legs and arms and shut his eyes.

"Hey," I said, flicking a twig at him. "No sleeping until after confession."

Tyler calmly brushed the twig off his chest and resumed his sleeping-cowboy position.

Miguel grinned at me, shrugging helplessly. But my curiosity, having been awakened, would not back down.