A/N: This is my first story! I hope you guys like it! And leave me a review, so I know how I can improve my writing… Come on… I'll be your best friend! And if you don't… well, we'll talk about that later ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, or any of these characters. Except for Carley. And you can't have her! Now will you leave me alone?

~Chapter 1~

Max POV

"Ma-a-a-ax!" Total cried, as though my name contained four syllables. I rolled my eyes, turning my head towards him, making it obvious that I was annoyed. "What is it, Total?" I said, slowly. I wasn't normally like this to any of my flock, but it had been a long day. We were all in a bad mood.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes!" he whined. Is it just me, or was this dog getting more annoying by the minute?

"I know, Total," I said, trying to keep my cool, "so what is it you need?"

"Can we stop to get something to eat? I haven't had anything all day," he complained. I sighed. I had already gotten several of the same requests from Gazzy, Angel, Nudge, and Iggy. The only one who had remained silent was Fang. As a matter of fact, I couldn't seem to recall him speaking at all today, which was strange. Since we started… erm, dating, he had spoken at least a few sentences to me every day. I wondered what was wrong.

"Total, I…" I trailed off. Actually, I didn't know what had driven me to keep us flying all this time. But I'd had a certain sense of urgency to go—somewhere. I didn't know where, but it was as if a hidden GPS system was implanted in my brain, telling me where to go. I know we're supposed to have a sense of direction as an instinct, but this was different.

I shook off my thoughts. It was getting late, and we were all tired. I was being unreasonable. I sighed. "Okay, we can rest, and get something to eat. But first off, does anyone have any idea where we are?"

Nudge spoke up. "Um, I'm guessing that we're somewhere out west. I mean, with all the desert and everything." I tried to hide my surprise at her uncharacteristically short statement.

"Well," I couldn't afford to hurt any feelings, so I tried to state my opinion as sweetly as I could, despite my bad mood. "Does anyone have a more specific idea? If we're near any cities, we can stop somewhere." I waited.

Silence.

Darn. I sighed, yet again. "Um. I guess that means we'll have to fan out and search. Fang, you come with me. Nudge, go with Iggy. Angel, Gazzy, Total, you all go together. We're going in a wide circle, alright? Meet back here in approximately half an hour!" I smiled to myself. Now that I had the watch that my mother had so graciously given to me, I could actually tell when half an hour was up. "Get moving, guys!" They gave me a grumble of agreement. The rest of my flock was out of sight within moments.

Now this was awkward. What is up with Fang? I studied him closely. Weirdly, his wings appeared a shad lighter than usual. I couldn't quite make out his face, since it was behind its usual dark curtain of hair, but if I knew Fang at all, he was concentrating on something. Hard.

I took a deep breath. "So, Fang… what's up?" I asked weakly. There's my usual pathetic attempt at starting a conversation for you. He turned his head toward me for a split second. I gasped.

"Fang! Are you OK?" The change wasn't that noticeable, but anyone who knew him as well as me would be able to tell that he looked somehow… smaller. His facial features were more pointed, too. He shook his head slightly, still apparently in deep concentration. Suddenly, he was gone.

A/N: Hehe, little cliffy there… Don't worry, I didn't kill Fang! Don't hurt me!

Anyway, if you noticed in either the summary or my other note in this chapter, there's supposed to be a character named Carley. She'll come up in the next chapter. Just so you know.