Air Born | Generation Icarus #1

Hawk - Hiding in Plain Sight

"Don't panic," Miguel said. "The more people there are, the less obvious we'll be."

"There's definitely a few weirdos mixed in there," Kestrel said, eyeing a couple of people in long white robes waving a sign. Welcome Angels!!!!! "Multiple exclamation marks are the first sign of madness."

I smiled tightly. "So if we stand behind the crazies, we'll be fine?"

"Worth a try," Kestrel said, and prepared to pull into the gas station.

Apart from the Angel-lovers, there were also teenagers clutching smartphones, serious-faced hard-core hunters, and a few sharply-dressed reporters rushing around with camera crews in tow. The occasional normal-looking person seemed either bemused or pissed off — presumably they were the locals whose sleepy little town had been overwhelmed by this flood of strangers.

Keeping my hat pulled low, I filled the tank as soon as Kestrel had used her credit card to pre-pay at the pump. We couldn't help checking out the other customers and their strange mix of cars. Ours looked positively low-key next to the airbrushed mural on the Kombi van, or the bright pink, big rig truck that was pulling out onto the street. "Seems like our hiding-in-plain-sight strategy is working," she said.

I nodded. "Next stop, the supermarket."

Traffic was moving at a crawl. I couldn't figure out what was going on, or why everyone seemed to have lost their minds.

I couldn't believe it was over me. Over us.

"Imagine if they found out we were right here," Kestrel murmured in awe. "What would they do?"

"Surround us and drag us out of the car?" I suggested sourly. Even jumping out of a tree twenty feet off the ground, with no tail, didn't scare me as much as these people.

"They're more like the paparazzi chasing a celebrity," Miguel said, evenly. "Although that doesn't sound much fun either."

"I'll take anonymity any day," said Kestrel. "Especially today."

Although the parking lot was almost full, the supermarket was surprisingly empty, except for a few locals who avoided making eye contact which suited us just fine. Even the checkout ladies were too busy bitching about the crazy people outside to take much notice of us.

As we loaded the groceries into the pickup, there was a surge of voices from the town centre. And the noise kept growing louder. 

Around us, people turned toward it. Some started running straight away, while others checked their phones first and then ran.

"What do we do?" Kestrel asked.

Miguel glanced around. The few people resisting the tide were starting to give way, joining in the flow of people heading toward the riot that was apparently developing nearby. A loud regular beat, like the bass of a distant dance track, began to thud. "Take advantage of the distraction and get out?"

"Oh my God, Raz!" someone bellowed down the street. "They found the angels! Move your ass, quick!"

Someone yelled in reply.  Kestrel, Miguel and I stared at each other.

"But we're not—?" I said, at the same moment that Kestrel said, "Are there others?"

"Can we risk going to find out?"

"Sounds like they've already been caught."

Miguel swung around to stare toward the invisible commotion, his eyes wide. "We have to help them."

"How can we help them?!" I ran my hand through my hair, feeling the panic oozing through me. My wings twitched under the thick jacket.

Several familiar-looking, large black vehicles slowly rolled past, the occupants clearly scoping the street. One pulled into the supermarket parking lot, and began to cruise down the aisles of cars.

"We have to go with everyone else or they'll notice us," Kestrel hissed, giving us a shove on our hidden, folded wings.

"Will they recognize the pickup?"

"Better they see the truck than us! Move!"