Rain poured pored down from the sky as lightning ripped it apart. Max watched from the entrance of their cave home, the same home they had had for about five years. It was a miracle that no Erasers or weird scientist had found them yet, but the flock wasn't complaining. The cave was good enough; it had a big main cavern, kind of like a foyer, and a few connecting den type things that were the flocks rooms. Nudge and Angel shared one den, Iggy and Gazzy were in another and Fang and Max had their own. It wasn't exactly a mansion or anything, but it worked and with a few improvements it was actually quite comfortable. "This rain has to stop soon." Max said, her voice taunt with frustration and pent up energy. "It's been like this for a week straight."
Fang looked over at her a bored look on his face, "It'll stop when it stops." He muttered. Max threw him an angry look, but was pleased he was getting out of his habit of one word sentences.
"When will we get the chance to fly again?" Nudge asked, from where she was sprawled out at the back of the cave, her head resting on Iggy's chest.
"It should stop soon." Iggy replied, "It can't go on like this for much longer." Wrapping his arm around Nudges shoulder, he kissed her hair and whispered, "I promise it can't last much longer." Max shuddered slightly at the sight of Iggy and Nudge, of course she wanted them to be happy but it was still weird seeing them all lovey dovey. Of course, she couldn't really say anything because she and Fang were kind of a…..well she wasn't exactly sure what she and Fang were, they just were. "Max?" The sound of Gazzy's cracking voice brought her out of her pondering. She crossed over to where he was laying on his blanket reading. "What's up, Gazzy?" She asked lying down next to the boy, he had been having a hard time these past few weeks, given that his voice was changing and cracking, which caused Fang and Iggy to pick on him constantly. "Look at this." He said pointing to a page in his book. "That girl sounds exactly like you." He said with a smile. Max read the passage; it talked about an uptight, obsessive compulsive teenager, with anger issues. Max hit the boy on the shoulder, as he burst out laughing. "Very funny." She said a smile on her lips. Max got up and walked back over to the door. The rain was stopping slightly and she bet she could fly in it. She needed time to relax by herself and have some alone time. That was kind of hard with six bird kids living in a small cave. "I'm going out." She told the flock as she moved the rock that blocked most of the entrance. "What?" "I want to come too." Iggy and Nudge's answered, their replies mixed together. "It's still raining." Fang pointed out, a slight smile hiding on his lips. "Thanks, Captain Obvious." Max replied sarcastically, before turning to Iggy and Nudge. "I don't think your wings could take it Nudge, it's still raining pretty hard, and you don't want to fly without Nudge, do you Iggy?" She asked a smirk on her lips. Iggy shook his head no, but Nudge looked like she wanted to protest. "She's right; your wings couldn't take it. Their not completely developed." Fang said as Nudge opened her mouth to protest. Max smiled at him before slipping through the rock entrance, closing it up, and leaping into the air. Rain beat mercilessly onto her wings, making them heavier than they actually were. Max flew higher into the air, until she broke through the clouds that held the rain and entered the calm sky above. She shook her wings as she coasted, causing herself to drop slightly. It was great, having a few minutes to herself.
Max instantly knew something was wrong as she headed towards the cave. There were tire marks on the ground of the canyon the cave resided in, and the rock that covered the entrance was open. She knew the flock would never leave it open like that, it was one of her few rules. She dropped onto the edge and walked into the cave, it was empty. A wave of sickness crashed over Max and she felt like she was going to hurl. On the ground by Gazzy's blanket, the one that he was using just before she left, was a dead Eraser. Max dropped to her kness, "No. No. No. No. This can't have happened. It can't." she said to herself. "I was only gone twenty minutes." Max knew it was hopeless to kid herself, the Erasers and come and taken her Flock. She needed to go and get them back. No question about it. Max got up from the floor and raced into her den. She quickly changed out of her dripping wet clothes and put on something light weight, something that would let her travel quicker. Then, she sprint out of the tunnel, out of the cave that had been so perfect, and leapt into the air. She followed the tire tracks to all the way to the main road before she lost them. She cursed, and looked down the highway. There was no way to tell which way the Erasers had taken them, but something in her mind was telling her to go east, away from town. She decided to listen to her instincts and veered to the right, following the main road. five hours later, Max dropped from the sky. Her wings ached from so much flying after so long, for the last five years they hadn't done more than two hours a day. Even that was with a lot of stops between. She landed in a tree and nestled herself in its branches. She would only sleep for a few hours, then she was back on the hunt.
Max woke before dawn the next day and quickly dropped to the forest floor. She walked until she found a small clearing and leapt into the sky. Today, no matter what, she would find her Flock and rescue them. No matter what. Within an hour she was back on the main rode, flying east. A few hours, a track that broke off from the main road caught her attention. Fresh tracks covered the small dirt road and Max hoped it was the Eraser's truck. She followed it and was rewarded when a small dark grey building gradually came into view. "This is it. This is the place they took them to." Max said to herself as she landed quietly about a mile from the building. She didn't want to get caught, or be seen quite yet.