DISCLAIMER: James Patterson is also not my alias. You do the math.
2
We sat around, spearing marshmallows and bananas and anything we could find, roasting them over our small fire. Our Flock had tested the limits of what could and couldn't be roasted over an open flame multiple times. Basically, anything without plastic wrapping was good. We'd learned that lesson from Gazzy.
I lazily rotated the stick holding my hotdog, not really paying attention to my surroundings. Which, you know, was probably not a smart idea, considering something could come at us at any given moment, and without my expert surveillance skills, how would we fight back? Of course, Angel could read minds, so she'd know if anyone was coming.
Unconsciously, my gaze drifted to her, my baby, curled up against a tree trunk on my left, Total in her lap. She was chewing rapidly, already on her third hotdog. I gave a low sigh. Everyone was here, safe. Everyone was happy...
Except me. But, I mean, I'm never really happy, so it doesn't really count. And it's kind of hard to be happy when the weight of the world is literally on your shoulders. So, we'd discovered secret files from the Institute in New York, practically gotten killed in an Itex building in Florida, and somehow wound up in Europe. And I still didn't feel like I was any closer to saving the world than I was six months ago, before any of this even happened.
And, it was all still really fuzzy. The whitecoats were working for Itex. I think. But, then, what did the Institute have to do with anything? There were other mutants there, too. Were they all the same institution? Were they different? Sometimes I think it would be easier if we just did what Iggy said and let him blow up the School. Of course, seeing as there were schools all over the world, that would take a lot of dynamite.
Don't look at the big picture, Max. It's all a piece of the big puzzle of life. I almost screamed in irritation. The Voice was back. Yeah, I have a voice in my head that's not my own. Actually, it belongs to my ex-savior Jeb Batchelder, who turned out to be my biological father. No, I'm not crazy. Well, maybe I am, but not because of that.
This is just a normal week in the life of your average bird-kid. Welcome to paradise!
I must have been staring out into space again, because five worried pairs of eyes met mine over the fire. Actually, technically, only three pairs because Fang was typing away at his laptop and Iggy...was blind. "What?"
Nudge exhaled deeply, "Are you okay? You look kind of..." She trailed off blankly, apparently unable to come up with the proper way to describe how I looked. Even Angel was staring at me with a worried expression, though I knew not because she thought I felt sick. She'd read my mind, and knew how stressed out I'd been getting lately. Angel yawned widely before leaning against me, resting her head in my lap.
It'll all turn out okay, Max. You'll see.
Sometimes I wished I could be as innocent as a little kid. Then again, when I was Angel's age, I'd already learned how to break someone's neck.
Not that she hadn't, but she never threatened to do that to Fang if he didn't stop bothering her. Three guesses as to who did threaten to break Fang's neck if he didn't stop bothering her.
It had been a long day. Granted, any day for an avian-human hybrid was long. Angel had drifted off to sleep in my lap, Total curled up at her side. His legs were moving rapidly, as if he was running. "Need...wings..." I sighed heavily, rolling my eyes at the talking dog. The little fur ball, like it or not, had become part of the Flock. My Flock.
Gazzy had eased his way to my other side, my arm around his shoulders. It was funny to think about. I had a mom now, but I was like their mom. If moms were butt-kicking, Eraser-eating, bird-kids. But I could be mom-like, in a sense. Like the 'no guns' rule. Or the fact that the younger kids all had bedtimes, and liked being tucked in by me.
"Max?" Nudge suddenly asked from across the fire. She and Iggy were still roasting whatever they could dig out of Fang's backpack. I turned my head in her direction. "Me and Iggy'll take first watch. You should get some sleep." And, you know, even when someone invaded my motherly-instincts, I didn't really mind.
Go ahead and take all the watch you want, Nudge. Not that I was going to sleep anyway, but it would be good just to have time to sit back and think about everything. And God knows I have a lot to think about.