I scanned the ground below us, looking for a safe spot to rest. It was late, and the wings of my flock were beating down hard on the gusts of wind pushing against us. Nudge, our little motormouth, was chattering darling Angel's ears off. Fang, the ever silent, sleek, handsome—scratch that. Fang, the quiet one, flew slightly behind me and to the left, with the same, unreadable expression planted on his face (oh, and I can't forget to mention our black Scottie, Total, in his arms). Farthest behind was Gazzy, who held on to the hand of our blind member of the family, Iggy.
I peered back down to the earth, and caught sight of a large cluster of trees ahead of us. The coast seemed clear—it never is, but seeming is as close as we ever get—so I gestured down to it and called out, "Fang, check it out."
He cast his eyes in the direction that I pointed, and nodded, banking to the right to swoop beside Gazzy and Iggy and inform them of the location to rest.
"Hey, Nudge, can you turn off the motor for a minute?" I called out to her. Interrupted in her conversation, she turned to smile sheepishly at me and nod. Angel sent an expression of relief in my direction. I smiled back—god, she is the cutest little girl.
"We're coming up on a dense patch of trees," I explained, indicating the ground ahead of us. "We'll stop for a rest there tonight. If nothing manages to hunt us down and attack us, we might get a good night's sleep."
"Finally!" I heard an indignant voice cry behind me. "A place to rest! I'm bushed! We've been flying forever!"
"'We', Total?" I exclaimed in reply to our talking Scottie, floating back to get a look at him. "You get to hang around in someone's arms all day. We're the ones who fly—you get to sightsee!"
"Well regardless!" He exclaimed, wriggling in Fang's grasp. "Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is, having to ride in someone's arms? Really, you should think about some sort of strapped seat—"
"No chance," Fang said shortly, peering at the dog. "I'd drop you before I stuck a first-class airplane seat on my back for you."
"You would not!" Total gasped.
"Try me," He retorted warningly.
I grinned and flew to the front, coasting close enough to Angel to ruffle her shiny, bouncy blonde hair and tweak her nose. "Ready for a good night's sleep, kid?"
"Mm-hm," she replied, beaming at me. "Everyone has been complaining for the last hour about wanting some sleep." She tapped a finger on her forehead. "Up here, anyway."
"Do you think there are any animals in the trees down there?" Nudge asked. "I mean, like, squirrels or something. The last time we stayed in a forest, there was a really angry squirrel in my tree. It chirped at me all night and stuff! And the owls get all ruffled about it, and—"
"Nudge," I butted in. "I don't know. Maybe. If there's an angry squirrel, just throw some acorns at it, or something."
She shrugged, continuing to mutter to herself about the broached incident. I beat my wings to get ahead of the flock, and guide our descent down to the forest—
Zzzing!
I heard the familiar whisper of a bullet as it shot by my ear. Immediately I tucked in my wings to abruptly drop about four feet, to disrupt the crosshairs of whoever was shooting at us. "Guys! Bullets! Everybody scatter and keep in constant motion!" I ordered firmly. Instantly the flock split apart and flew into disarray, to follow my instruction.
"Nice to see you, too," A voice growled. I looked up to see Ari and a pack of Erasers shoot out from a cloud, toward us.
"Hiding in clouds now?" I sneered, ducking a kick that he aimed at my head. "That's new. And you have ground cover. Someone else must be doing the thinking, besides you."
"Shut up!" He snarled, throwing a punch at my stomach. I backpedaled in the air and rose up, sending a kick toward his face—which successfully collided, and startled him enough for him to partially close his wings and drop down a couple of feet. I took the chance to whirl around and check out the rest of the flock.
Fang was holding his own against two Erasers despite having to handle Total, who was stuffed down in his shirt. Angel had teamed up with her brother, Gazzy, and the two of them were battling it out against three more Erasers—scratch that, two, as one of Gazzy and Iggy's famous bombs detonated on its wings and it plummeted. Finally, there were Nudge and Iggy, who had also paired up—Nudge, the talented talker, was in a punch battle with one monstrous Eraser while giving Iggy direction. I'm pretty sure I saw Iggy stuff a bomb into the back of one Eraser's—
Smack! My head jerked back as Ari's fist collided with my jaw. I backed away and massaged my face, grunting. A smug grin crossed his face. "Don't get so distracted, Max. That's so lame, having to take care of others. It really messes you up, doesn't it?"
"As opposed to you? You're just a lonely kid trapped in an ugly body!" I snapped, throwing a punch at him. He caught me by the wrist and twisted my arm painfully, and pushed it against my back. His available arm snaked around my waist and he held on tightly, roughly, and he said, "Watch. If you hadn't noticed, these Erasers are new model. Your little flock is about to have its wings clipped."
I shot a glare at him from the corner of my eye, but turned to survey the scene. Horrified, I realized that the "beaten down" Erasers suddenly seemed to gather a second wind. One that had been fighting Fang suddenly broke ranks and rocketed toward Angel, colliding with her and grabbing her hair to hold her still. He clasped a hand over her mouth to keep her from trying to use her "influential talking" power, and his face broke into a nasty grin. Gazzy, startled, turned to face the new arrival, but the two Erasers that he had been crossing swords with grabbed him by the arms, capturing him. The lone Eraser fighting Fang grabbed his shirt and ripped it open, sending Total falling to the earth. Fang dove to catch him, and the Eraser followed, kicking him square in the middle of his back.
"Fang!" I cried. "Gazzy, Angel! Hold on!" I struggled in Ari's grip, frustrated, and kicked at his shin. He grunted, and pushed my arm further against my back. I groaned and snarled at him. "You're sick, Ari!"
"Yeah, well, I learn to live with it," he retorted flatly.
"Nudge, Iggy, make a break for it!" I screamed. "You know where to go!"
Nudge turned to follow orders, saw the rest of the flock captured, and gasped. Lost without direction, a confused Iggy cried, "Nudge, don't stop talking! Where are they?!"
Suddenly, I heard it again. Zzzing!
"Bullet!" I hollered as Nudge reached for Iggy's arm—which abruptly jerked backward along with the rest of him, his face an expression of blank surprise. Blood blossomed across his left shoulder. Taking advantage of the moment, an Eraser punched him first in the stomach, and then in the side of his head.
"Iggy!" Nudge cried, reaching, but the last of the Erasers grabbed hold of her and kept her back.
"I'm okay, guys," Iggy muttered. "Just a bullet." Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his wings tucked in, and he nose-dived to earth.
"Iggy!" I screamed. "Iggy!"
