Maximum Ride
Walmart Madness
Me: So….this is just a random story I came up with
Iggy: You've got nothing better to do?
Fang: Apparently not.
Max: *rolls eyes*
Me: Iggy, shut up, Fang you can't speak here because of what you did after MAX, and Max, don't roll your eyes at me!
Iggy: Whatever.
Max: What does Fang do?
Me: Oh crap, um, nothing. *Mutters to self and glares at Fang*
Fang: *shrugs shoulders and pretends to not care*
Me: You'll care.
Max: Can we get on with this?
Iggy: On with the story you wrote because you have no life *laughs evilly*
Me: *smacks Iggy over the head* Say the disclaimer!
Iggy: *grumbles and rubs head* Avenging Angels does not own Maximum Ride, James Patterson does
Iggy peeked around the corner of his door and cocked his head to the side. Behind him someone stirred and Iggy threw his hands back with his fingers crossed in the Flock 'don't talk or you die' symbol. After a moment of listening Iggy pushed the door open and crept down the hallway. At the end he stopped and listened again. Still nothing. They might just get out of here alive.
Iggy, Nudge is about to burst you gotta hurry! Angel's mental voice cut into Iggy's thoughts. He glanced over his shoulder though he couldn't see and looked at where he thought the mocca colored bird kid was waiting. He heard trembling and knew Angel was right. Nudge was gonna bust a gut if she had to keep quiet for much longer.
Tell Nudge to chill, Angel. If we get caught we're dead meat and we won't get to go. Iggy didn't wait to see if Nudge got the message, how could he anyway, and turned to creep down the rest of the hallway. Now for the hard part.
"Gazzy," Iggy whispered so low the blonde haired bird boy was just able to hear him. Gazzy slunk forward and knelt by Iggy. "What do you see?" Gazzy was quiet for a moment, taking in the scene, then he said in a hushed whisper, "One bird, sleepin' in the nest. He's out cold but his foot is twitching. The T.V is on. We might have been compromised."
Iggy's eyebrows rose and he said, "Impossible…wait, where's Total?" Gazzy scanned the room but it was Angel who answered. "He's in the yard with Akila. I told him not to tell."
"You think he won't?" Angel nodded and for Iggy's benefit said, "He won't."
"Let's go then. Remember the plan?" They murmured yes and followed him down the stairs and into the living room.
Iggy heard soft breathing and looked at the couch. He imagined Fang sleeping with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs spread over the arm of the couch. Iggy could hear the sound of some old movie he didn't remember but resisted the urge to turn off the T.V. Any change in the room and Fang would wake up. That's the way they'd been taught.
Red alert, red alert! Angel sent him a mental picture of Nudge. Her legs were crossed and she was hunched over with her hands over her mouth. Her face was cherry red and her eyes were watering. Iggy shook his head and tiptoed as quickly as he could over to Nudge who had just opened her mouth and taken a deep breath. "N-," Nudge started just as Iggy's hand smacked over her mouth. Nudge's eyes widened and she lapsed into silence as Iggy glared at her murderously. Behind him Angel and Gazzy stared in horror at Fang whose head turned slightly.
Everyone held their breath as Fang's breathing stuttered. Then he started breathing deeply again and turned deeper into the couch.
Iggy looked purposely at Nudge who blushed and then led the way to the kitchen and out the screen door. In the yard Total and Akila were laying in a patch of sunshine. Total had a magazine from the Vet's office propped up on a rock and was reading about the benefits upper class dogs appreciated compared to common dogs. Akila was busy snoozing with her head on her paws. As Total glanced at her though she opened one eye and flicked an ear to let him know she was listening.
As they walked by the two dogs Total glanced up and looked at them with wide, brown eyes. "You promised," Angel reminded him as she spread her white wings. "I know, but I didn't think you'd go."
"Of-course we're going," Gazzy protested! "It's not often we get this kind of opportunity," Iggy pointed out. The others nodded and Total sighed. "Just be careful." Nudge, Gazzy, Angel and Iggy all rolled their eyes. "Mission Impossible, go, go, go!" Angel said and jumped into the sky. The others followed closely behind her and they soared through the sky.
Over head the sun beat down on them through the clouds as they flew in vertical stacks, made figure eights and played air tag. That was until Nudge looked down and finally burst. "There it is! OMG I love this place! You can find anything here. Like food and clothes and toys and games. It's like a mini mall. I love the mall! OMG we sooo need to go to the mall after this. Is there a mall around here? We should find one! Oh maybe there's one in town! We should go further into town. We should-," Iggy flew over and slapped his hand over Nudge's mouth for the second time that day.
"Nudge my ears are bleeding!" Nudge's cheeks flushed and when Iggy removed his hand she said, "Sorry."
"Can we land now? We've only got a certain amount of time to be here. Max could be back any minute."
"Yeah or Fang could wake up," a voice said behind them.
They all spun around in mid-air, yes it is possible, and stared wide eyed at Fang who was flying just behind them. He had his arms crossed. "What part of 'stay here and don't get into any trouble' do you guys not understand?"
"Oh come on Fang," Angel whined. "We've been cooped up in that house for three days! How come Max gets to go shopping when we get stuck at home?"
Fang flew closer to them and looked at them with narrowed eyes. "First off Max is not shopping of her own free will, Ella dragged her away. Second she went alone because its about time she spent some Mother/Daughter time with her mom and half-sister. Thirdly if Max told you to stay home you should have done exactly that. Or at least told me what you were planning."
"If we would have told you you wouldn't have let us go," Gazzy said sourly. Fang glanced at him and his mouth twitched. And after looking at the others sad faces he sighed and said, "One hour. Okay? That's all you get. Then we fly back to Doctor Martinez's house and never, I repeat never tell Max."
"Afraid your girlfriend might kick your butt," Iggy teased? Fang glared at him but it was lost on the blind kid.
"Let's go."
After locating a small group of trees the Flock, minus their leader, set down and pulled their windbreakers on tight. After checking to make sure each others wings were hidden they strolled out of the trees like they hadn't been soaring in the sky moments before and walked across the crowded parking lot to the store. Nudge stared in awe at the huge letters which announced the name of the super center. And as they walked inside she and Angel paused, took a deep breath, and said in unison, "Walmart."
Fang, hearing their excitement, turned and said, "Look, I was saving this for something but I guess…," he reached into his back pocket and fished out 20 bucks. He handed it to Nudge who stared at the bill wide eyed. "Use it on whatever you want. But try to stay out of trouble okay?"
"Okay," Nudge and Angel squealed. They ran off in the direction of the toys and clothes departments waving at Fang as he yelled after them, "Stay together!"
Fang watched them disappear with exasperation then turned to see that Iggy and Gazzy were staring at him. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," Iggy said, "-give the girls some money to spend on make-up and dresses. When Gazzy and I could take 20 bucks and make a bomb big enough to blow up half the country!" Some people walking by stared at them and Fang gritted his teeth as they passed by and started whispering. But when they laughed he eased up.
"Look keep it down will yah?" Iggy grinned and Gazzy smiled wickedly. "What, Fang? Concerned we might blow up the store?" Iggy said this just loud enough that a grandma walking by was able to hear it. Her eyes widened and she made a wide arc around the three boys, glancing over her shoulder as she rolled her buggy past. "Iggy I swear to God-," but Gazzy cut him off.
"I wonder if they sell anything that I could turn nuclear." He wasn't as loud as Iggy and no one heard him but it was enough to send Fang over the edge. Gritting his teeth he reached in his back pocket and fished out his wallet. He handed Iggy a ten and a five. Iggy grinned and said, "What? No twenty?"
"Get outta here," Fang growled.
Iggy laughed and raised his eye brows at Gazzy who said, "Our lips are sealed," in a very good The Go Go's impression. Then they ran off towards the back where all the hunting, electronics, and sports stuff was. Leaving Fang alone in the middle of Walmart.
Fang watched them go then sighed and looked around. The store was pretty packed but it was a Sunday so things weren't that bad. He saw people standing in line or talking as they pushed buggies or shopped. They all looked okay, not like a robot or Eraser that might try to attack him or the Flock. Maybe they'd be okay in public for once….
Angel and Nudge took turns dragging each other down isles lined with toys and clothes. Nudge was more interested in clothes but Angel wanted to look for a new bear to replace Celeste. Nudge wished that they could split up but Fang had said to stay together. But it wasn't like they were gonna get lost….
Angel stopped suddenly and pointed upwards. Nudge glanced up and saw a bin full of small bouncy balls about the size of softballs. Angel grinned at her and said, "Remember that show Gazzy and Iggy used to watch all the time?" Nudge thought for a moment and Angel sent her a mental image. Her eyes widened and she said, "Oh we are so doing that!"
The two girls slapped high fives and dove into the bin pulling out as many balls as they could carry. Then they ran into the aisle, looked around to make sure there were no security guards then stood facing each other. Angel's eyes narrowed and Nudge's eyes hardened. For a moment they just stared at each other. Then Angel jumped into the air and threw a bouncy ball up yelling, "Go Pikachu, go!"
"Go Bulbasaur," Nudge roared and the two girls started throwing the bouncy balls into the air yelling out random Pokemon. By the time they were done the aisle was flooded with the brightly colored balls. Nudge heard foot steps walking briskly towards them and grabbed Angel's hand. Time to split the toy department.
On the other side of the store Iggy put down the last alarm clock in Housewares and stood back, admiring his work. Gazzy put down a blue one and flicked the timer with his finger. He grinned at Iggy and the two boys walked casually down the aisle. A woman with red hair and high heels with a business like look on her face passed them headed down the aisle. Iggy held back a smirk as Gazzy smothered a laugh. The woman glanced at their red faces in confusion but kept walking. Gazzy glanced at his watch and tapped Iggy's hand.
"Three, two, one…," he whispered. As soon as he said one there was a beep followed by an explosion of ringing, singing, and just plain annoying sounds as every alarm clock in the store went berserk. Radio stations blared a bad mix of rock and country while some of the older alarms let out bell sounds or just beeps. The woman who had been walking down the hall dropped to the ground and threw her hands over her head crying out. Gazzy slapped a high five with Iggy and ran. He could see blue shirted men with walkie talkies running towards them headed for the alarms. Time to beat it.
Fang heard a memo go out over the intercom about a clean up in the toy department and shook his head. That couldn't be good. "Excuse me," a voice said and Fang turned to see some dude with a Walmart vest looking at him. Fang's eyes narrowed and he said, "Yeah."
"Would you be interested in a sample?" Fang noticed he was holding a tray with some chocolate looking stuff on it.
"Um, no thanks." Fang turned to walk away but was stopped by another employee. She was holding a tray as well advertising some cereal Fang had seen on TV. "Wanna try some?" Again Fang shook his head and tried to move away when he was stopped yet again. "No thank you," he said before the guy could ask. He stared at him blankly and Fang pushed through the circle they'd made around him. Sheesh, these people just don't understand the concept of NO.
Nudge peeked out from behind the purse rack she was pretending to be shopping at and was just able to see a lock of golden hair hidden inside a rack of clothes. Nudge hid her face in her hands as a group of shoppers walked slowly around the clothing department picking at clothes as they walked by. Suddenly a group became interested in a circular rack of clothing with fur jackets in it. They couldn't even see Angel hiding inside of them. Until….
"Pick me, pick me!" Angel's head popped up in the middle of the rack and the startled shoppers leapt back in surprise clutching their chests. Angel grinned, her blonde halo of locks swinging as she looked at all the shocked shoppers and said, "Pick me, pick me!" Then she ducked her head and disappeared. Nudge couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. Several of the shoppers Angel had scared glanced at her and glared. This only made her laugh harder. This was the best day ever.
Iggy tapped his foot impatiently and pretended to look at a fake watch on his wrist. Gazzy had been in that stupid dressing room for 10 minutes! What the heck was he doing? Iggy said he'd wait for him to get done trying on some t-shirt that said, 'Silent but Deadly' in green, but he didn't expect the kid to take this long. Even Nudge would have been out by now. If only to get more clothes.
As if sensing that Gazzy should have been out by now an elderly woman who worked at the fitting room section of Walmart knocked on Gazzy's door and said, "Young man, are you about done?" There was a pause, and then Gazzy shouted loud enough for everyone near the fitting rooms to hear, "There's no toilet paper in here!"
The woman's eyes bugged out of her head along with all the other workers and shoppers as those who could scrambled and began to run away. Iggy burst out laughing and clutched his stomach as he hunched over. Gazzy walked out with the t-shirt and handed it to the astonished woman. "It's not my style," he told her and stuck his hands in his pockets whistling as he walked away. The woman turned pale and sunk to the floor. Gazzy ran over to Iggy and the two boys slapped high fives before ducking into the mens department before they got caught.
Nudge finished strapping down the tent as Angel ran up and said, "Here comes one!" The two girls giggled and closed the flaps of the tent as a young man and woman walked towards the tent. When they were in front of it Nudge threw the tent flap open and said, "Get off my camping ground!" The man and woman glanced at her in surprise and walked off quickly glancing over their shoulders as they went. Nudge laughed and Angel said, "Let me."
They waited and when a woman who was about 19 walked by Angel poked her head out of the tent and said, "Where's my smores!" The woman stumbled backwards then came to her senses and rolled her eyes. She gave a slight chuckle and walked away.
Gazzy grinned as he leaned around a stack of pillows and held up a water gun. A few aisles down Iggy did the same. For a moment the two boys cast anxious glances around themselves. Then Iggy let out a whistle as the signal. Gazzy chuckled and opened his mouth producing a perfect rendition of the "Mission Impossible" theme song. Iggy moved into the aisle and waved his gun around with his eyes narrowed. Gazzy followed him and they walked side by side down the aisle ducking and rolling all the while disappearing whenever customers turned to look at them.
Iggy bent low and pretended to belly crawl over to a stack of towels while Gazzy ducked and rolled still making the theme song. Iggy waved him over and pointed upwards. Gazzy glanced up and saw nothing. He looked down at Iggy in confusion but blinked in surprise. He was gone.
Gazzy's eyes narrowed and he pressed his back to the towels pulling the gun up in-front of his face. He glanced to the left then right. He moved out into the aisle. "Bam, bam!" Iggy leapt into the hallway easily pinpointing Gazzy who was still humming. Gazzy turned and leaned back in a matrix move to dodge the bullets. When they 'flew over him' he leapt up and fired at Iggy. Iggy did a split and swung his feet around until the was standing. Then he and Gazzy ran at each other in slow motion firing all the time.
As they ran past each other Iggy let out a groan and collapsed to the floor. Gazzy hit his knees and changed from Mission Impossible to a sad, mourning tune. Slowly the two boys slid sideways and hit the ground. People walking down the aisle stared at them in confusion as they went still. They didn't understand where the funeral music was coming from.
Nudge glanced at Angel who grinned and said, "Okay." Nudge gave her a little push and Angel skipped down the hall towards the unsuspecting employee. Angel tugged on his sleeve and the man looked down in surprise. He grinned and said, "Hello sweetie, how are you? Where's your mother at huh? Want me to help you find her?" Angel stared at the man with a completely blank face and said, "Code 3 in Sector 4. All staff has been ordered to report their immediately. This is not a drill Stan."
The man, presumedly Stan, turned pale and glanced in the direction of the Food section. He gulped, "You better go, Code 4's aren't pretty. Stay safe." Stan nodded and began to walk away, crossing his hand over his chest and to his face like a Catholic while murmuring, "Oh God," to himself as he half walked half ran away. Angel glanced at Nudge who grinned and asked, "What's a Code 4?" Angel grinned and shook her head. "You don't wanna know."
Iggy pretended to 'look' at the gun case and 'read' what each label on a gun said. A employee walked over to him and, thinking he was much older because of the avian DNA, asked, "Would you like to see one?" Iggy grinned on the inside but stayed neutral on the outside. He put his hand to his chin and said, "Um, yeah."
"Which kind?" Iggy panicked a little and Gazzy came up to his side. Not blowing Iggy's cover he said, "Why don't you look at that black one? The shotgun."
"I'll see that one," Iggy said.
The woman nodded and pulled out a set of keys opening the glass doors. She pulled the gun Gazzy had suggested out and handed it to Iggy who easily found where the trigger was and which end the barrel was on. He made his face solemn as he held it up and 'looked' down the sights pointing it at the ceiling. "How strong is this thing," Iggy asked? The woman took on a thoughtful expression and said, "Good enough for lots of hunting. It's one of our top sellers." Iggy nodded and frowned.
Still holding the gun he said, "Okay, I'll take it."
"An excellent choice. I just need to see your license and some other things then-," but Iggy interrupted her. "Sorry but can I get you to hold on for a minute? I've got to get something."
"Sure, do you need any assistance?" Iggy thought for a moment then, still holding the gun and a melancholy expression, he said, "Can you tell me where the antidepressants are?"
Nudge forced the smile dieing to break across her face down deep inside her as she walked up to a counter near the back of the store with DVD's and other things on it and began to pick through the stuff. After about a minute a woman with a blue Walmart vest on walked up to her and said, "Can I help you?" Nudge glanced at the woman and began to cry. She sobbed hysterically as the woman's eyes widened and she took a step back. Nudge cried out, "Why can't you people just leave me alone!"
Angel laughed from an aisle down at the look on the woman's face as Nudge continued crying but slowly began to creep away. Nudge had been brilliant. But Angel had an even better idea.
She thought what she was about to do was kind of mean. It had really caused someone she loved a lot of pain and still caused her annoyance but Angel couldn't pass up the opportunity she was about to get. And as a beep issued over head and the intercom came on she dropped to the ground screaming and holding her head in her hands as the intercom blared, "Kristine Rockets please report to Optics."
Angel screamed even louder. "No, no it's those voices again!" She rocked back and forth screaming as people around her stared in horror and gasped. A few aisles down Nudge laughed.
Fang's eyes narrowed as he watched blue garbed security guards run back and forth across the store. As one ran past him Fang heard him say into his speaker, "Roger that, two blond haired males one older than the other. Copy." He hurried past Fang and turned down an aisle. Fang let out an angry sigh and walked quickly after the man. That was until another security guard ran by in the opposite direction yelling into his microphone, "Copy that, blonde haired girl and older, dark haired girl." Then he, too, was gone.
Fang stopped walking and glanced after the guard. Then he glanced in the direction the other one had run. He shook his head. This had been a bad idea. And he had a feeling it was about to get a lot worse.
With a huff he took off in the direction of Angel and Nudge. Iggy was old enough to look after Gazzy. At least until Fang got there.
Iggy's grin vanished as he heard the sound of heavy footsteps and fast breathing behind him. He spun around a moment before Gazzy who raised his fists instinctively. Three security guards, two of which were overweight, stopped in-front of them and pulled out their night sticks. They waved them at the boys and said, "Stay right there boys. You're coming with us." Iggy felt sweat run down the nape of his neck and Gazzy stiffened beside him. They hadn't planned on getting caught.
Iggy debated on whether or not to just whip out his wings and fly out of there like a bat out of hell but that could seriously blow their cover. Ever since Doctor M had gotten out of the hospital they'd tried to keep it on the down low as Max called it so as to not draw attention to themselves so they wouldn't get shot at or kidnapped. Iggy had tried to point out that only Max had been the one kidnapped and shot at and hit so maybe she should hide while the rest of the Flock hung out in the open. This earned him a smack in the head and "idiot".
Oh crap, Iggy thought as the guards closed in and put rough hands on their shoulders. And as his eyes saw Gazzy's face against the white tiles he knew he was thinking the same thing. Max was gonna be pissed.
Nudge pulled Angel up and tried to run but they'd already caught up to them. Angel hadn't seen them coming because she'd been playing her 'the voices are telling me to kill you' game with a few customers. But now that they were surrounded Angel saw them. To bad it was too late. Unless….
Angel can you get us out of this? Angel looked at Nudge with wide eyes and thought, I can try. But just as Angel looked at one of the guards a familiar voice spoke up from behind them. They turned to see Fang make his way through the circle and stand beside Nudge and Angel. He put his hands on their shoulders. "Who are you," one of the guards asked suspiciously? These guys didn't mess around.
"I'm…Nick, and these are my adopted siblings Arielle and Tiffany-Crystal."
"Where are your parents," another asked? Fang's eyes narrowed, "Asia," he said calmly. The guards looked at each other then said, "Do you know these two boys?" One pushed a picture at Fang who took it and gritted his teeth. He nodded. "My adopted brothers, Jason and Tod."
"I'll need you three to come with me," a burly guard said. He waved them forward and they were marched down the aisles with two guards on either side of them and a few trailing behind.
They walked through a side door near the front of the store and came into a room with monitors lining the walls. People sat in-front of these at desks. As they were led past the people at the desks glared at them. What have they done, Fang wondered?
"Wait in here," a officer said and he held open a door that looked kind of like a mini cell without the bars accept on the door. The rest of the room was white but spacious. It still reminded Fang of the School and Nudge and Angel held on tightly to his hands as they were pushed in. Only to see Gazzy and Iggy sitting in chairs by the door.
Gazzy's eyes widened and he scrambled up. Iggy recognized Fang, Angel and Nudge's foot steps and stood up as well frowning. "Sorry bro.," Iggy said and hung his head. Fang scowled at him and led Nudge and Angel over to sit down. They did and glanced around with wide eyes. Angel had tears the the corners of her eyes.
Fang ignored Iggy and walked to the door. He put his arms against it and gripped the bars. A guard stood outside the door and Fang asked him, "How long will we be here?" The guard glanced at him and said, "Until those responsible for you show up." Fang felt a chill go down his spine. "Our parents are in Asia." The guard laughed and said, "I guess the cops with come pick you up then and hold you until they find a legal guardian to take care of you."
He chuckled and walked off leaving Fang looking after him. He turned and saw the others huddled together staring at him with wide eyes. Fang sighed and walked over to them. He put his hand on Angel's shoulder and said, "Angel, can you get us out of here?"
Angel glanced at him with teary eyes and shook her head. Fang nodded, he understood. She was too worked up about being locked up again. Fear had gripped her mind. Angel's mind control was useless as of now.
"Fang what do we do," Nudge asked? "I don't know."
"Can we bust out," Gazzy asked seriously? He patted his pockets and said, "I came prepared." But Fang shook his head. "We're trying to stay under cover remember? Blowing up a Walmart probably wouldn't help." Gazzy nodded sadly and sat down by his sister, patting her arm comfortingly.
Iggy gulped and said, "Maybe we should call Max…." Silence covered the tiny room as everyone's eyes opened wide in fear and ice crept into their veins. Max would already be pissed they'd left the house but if she knew they'd been locked up for joking around she'd be murderous. And at the moment there were five bird kids who didn't wanna be chopped liver.
"No, we'll get back before Max finds out," Fang said confidently. But on the inside worry gripped him. He glanced at a clock on the wall and inwardly groaned. It was five thirty. Max had said they'd be back by 6 o'clock. What if they got back early?
"Seriously, mom, I had a great time," I said, walking into the house and setting my bags down on the table. My mom smiled as she set down her own single bag. Ella huffed as she hauled in her five bags of nothing but clothes, make-up and a few other things I didn't care about up to her room. When she returned she gave me a hug and said, "See? Shopping is fun!" I smiled but it came out more as a grimace. Ella rolled her eyes but smiled.
She glanced at my bags and said, "Please tell me you got yourself something. You know it was supposed to be a mother/daughter shopping date. Not a mother, daughter and girl who gets nothing for herself but everything for the kids not there date." Now I rolled my eyes and said, "Of course I got myself something! But I couldn't help shopping for the Flock. I felt bad going without them."
"You felt bad going period," my mom said and for a moment I feared I'd hurt her feelings. But when she laughed I relaxed a little. She knew how I was about the Flock.
"Speaking of the Flock," I said and glanced around. "Hey guys we're back," I yelled! I waited but when I didn't hear anything I frowned and began searching rooms. Mom and Ella were too busy unpacking to notice. When I came back down the stairs I checked the living room then went into the kitchen. They took the half worried half furious expression on my face as a clue that something was wrong. "Max," my mom asked? I glanced at her and said, "The Flock's gone."
"What?"
"They aren't here."
"Are you sure," I glanced at Ella and she winced as I held up a piece of paper with slanted writing that looked hastily written. I'd recognize that writing anywhere. "Fang left this note on the TV. It says, Max, gone after the Flock. Left while I was asleep. Don't worry we should be back before you get this so hopefully I'm writing this for nothing. But if I'm not I think they went into town somewhere. Total wouldn't tell me. Said he promised Angel. Be back soon! Fang.
I finished reading the note for the third time and felt it crumple in my hands. I turned and walked straight out the back door. Total was asleep on the porch with Akila who had her head on her paws. One ear raised as I walked up and she stood up leaving Total curled up where she had been. Sensing my mood Akila's fur rose along her neck and she glanced at Total. She pulled her ears back but I flared my wings and she stepped back giving off a low growl.
I knelt down beside Total and bent right next to his ear. "WAKE UP!" Total gave a startled yelp and leapt three foot into the air before hitting the ground with a thump. He leapt to his feet and looked around wildly before seeing me standing there. His jaw dropped. "Jesus Max! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"That's not all I'm going to give you if you don't tell me where the heck the Flock is."
Total's eyes instantly narrowed and he said, "I don't know what your talking about." I threw Fang's letter on the ground in front of him. He read it and said, "So?"
"So? How long has Fang been gone Total?" Total thought for a moment then said, "Um, I don't know a few hours. Why?" I sighed and said, "The Flock left because I wasn't here. So they obviously didn't want me to know. That means they would have been back before I was. Or they should have been."
"Makes sense," Total said. I waited but when he didn't continue I said, "Total, something has happened obviously. I need to find them and make sure they are okay."
Total shifted on his paws and glanced at the ground. Then he looked up and said, "Angel made me promise…."
I ground my teeth together and said, "Total, I promise you I will shave all of your fur off and dip you in molasses if you don't tell me where they are!" Needless to say that got him talking.
Fang let his head tilt back against the wall and tried for the hundredth time to drown out Nudge and Gazzy. "Okay who sings this one," Gazzy asked? He gave a small cough then sang, "-baby your beautiful, and there's nothing wrong with you. It's me, I'm a freak. But thanks for loving me. 'Cause you're doing it perfectly…."
"Ooooohhhh Adam Lambert!" Gazzy nodded and Nudge laughed.
"Okay, my turn. Hmmm," Nudge thought for a moment then, "-baby, baby, baby, ohhhh, baby, baby, baby noooooo…."
"Justin Bieber," Gazzy said with a grimace. Nudge's face took on a look of indigence. "What's that look supposed to mean?" Gazzy rolled his eyes and said, "Nothing, I just don't really like his music." Nudge's eyes looked like they were gonna pop out of her head. "What!"
Fang groaned as Nudge began a full time lecture on the history of Justin Bieber and his musical stylings. Lucky Angel was asleep leaning against Fang's right shoulder. She was sitting in-between he and Iggy who was busy trying to cover his ears and drown out Nudge. By the look of pain on his face though Fang didn't think it was working.
Finally Iggy burst. "Nudge shut up! Gah, I can't even hear myself think!" Nudge shut up and glared at Iggy. "Well I've got to find something to do around here," she complained. "We've been here for hours." Fang glanced at the clock. It was eight.
"Maybe we should," Fang started when there was a clanging sound and the door opened up. Everyone was on their feet in an instant and stared in a mixture of relief and fear as Max was let in by a security guard. "These them?" Max didn't bother looking at any of them. She turned to the guard and said, "Yeah, my adopted family."
"And you're their legal guardian?"
"Yes."
"I'll need to see your ID and proof of residency-," he started but Max cut him off. "No, you won't need any of that. I'll take it from here."
The man looked affronted and his face turned red. "You can't just leave with them after everything they've done!"
"Watch me," Max said. Finally she looked at them. "Let's go." Then she turned and walked past the stammering guard.
Cautiously the Flock edged past the man and hastily followed Max out of the Security Office and into the main lobby. Behind them the guard came to his senses and called for back up. And as they emerged into the parking lot shouts issued from behind them. "Up and away," Max said. Not bothering for secrecy she whipped out her brown and white speckled wings in the middle of the parking lot and jumped straight into the air.
The others stared at her in shock then took running starts and leapt up after their leader. Gasps and shouts rang out from below as they rose into the air until they were coasting in the clouds. Fang flew up next to Max and tried to look at her face. It was completely blank. "Max?" Max didn't answer, didn't even look at Fang. He dropped back next to Iggy who looked at him worriedly and shrugged.
After about ten minutes they arrived back home and touched down in the front yard. The Flock huddled close together as Max walked a few steps forward and stopped. When she turned to look at them her face was calm. "Did you have fun?" They stared at her blankly then looked at each other. Gazzy finally braved up and said, "Um, yeah, until we got caught." He glanced at the others who nodded.
Max nodded as well and seemed to think about something. Then she said, "Well, I had fun today too, sort of. I still hate shopping but spending time with mom and Ella was cool. We got some new stuff and I picked some stuff out for you guys too. Wanna see?"
"Really? Cool!" Nudge, Gazzy and Angel all ran up giving Max a hug before stampeding inside. Iggy and Fang exchanged looks though Iggy couldn't see. This was not what they had expected.
"What," Max asked when they just stood there staring at her? "Aren't you…mad," Iggy asked flat out? He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "No, I'm not mad. Not anymore."
"Oh," Iggy said and nodded. "Okay." He gave Max a smile before running off into the house. That left Max and Fang alone.
"Seriously, you're not mad," Fang asked skeptivly? Max grinned and took his hand. Fang liked how it felt in his. "Nah, I was at first. But when Ray showed me the footage from the holding room you guys had been locked up in for over three hours I figured I'd gotten my revenge." Fang gaped at Max and she laughed. "You didn't think they'd actually let us walk out of there did you? It was all a con. Ray, that guard who let me in with you guys, is an awesome actor. He even had me going there for a second."
"You mean you tricked us?"
"Yeah that's what I just said."
Fang shook his head and gritted his teeth. Max laughed at his expression. "So, where's Justin Bieber originally from?"
"You're evil," Fang said. Max laughed again and tugged his hand. "You know I got you something too," she said. Fang looked down at her and said, "What?"
"This," she leaned up and kissed Fang's lips gently. Fang grinned and as she pulled away he said, "Is that a gift that keeps on giving?" Max laughed and said, "Sure." She kissed him again before breaking apart and grinning.
Fang sighed and said, "Best. Gift. Ever."
So….review if you like it review if you hated it. This was based off of some of the things on that 15 Things to do in Walmart list going around on profiles. I saw it, was inspired, and wrote the above. I didn't use all of the fifteen because some I didn't like and I'm way to lazy to include them all or think of ways to include them. Let me know what you thought! Press that button and review!