Chapter 9
Two hours later I was standing under the blistering sun, pacing back and forth as I kept surveillance. My T-shirt was soaked with sticky, salty sweat that was gushing from every single pore on my body (lovely, picture, huh?). I mean, who knew it could get this hot in Washington D.C. in March?
I could tell this was gonna get real old, real fast. I already felt like I was about to die, and I was only half way into my first surveillance! Personally, I thought that this whole added-security thing was a little unnecessary. Okay, a lot unnecessary. I mean, maybe I was just being impatient (I kind of had that problem sometimes), but so far I hadn't seen even the slightest disturbance, from the ground or the sky, and none of the rest of the flock had reported anything unusual either. What a waste of my time.
I lifted my long blond hair off the back of my neck, hoping a breeze would come by and cool me off. No such luck, though. Nope. Not for Maximum Ride.
Suddenly I felt a slight pricking on the back of my neck. I guess you could call it a sixth sense. Or, you know, a recombinant life-form thing. But whatever.
I froze, listening intently. I turned slowly, scanning the clump of trees before me. A road was visible just beyond the border of the mini-forest on the side of the white house. I shielded my eyes with my hand, squinting against the glare of the bright afternoon sunlight.
There was someone walking up the road. Creeping up the road was more like it. And judging by their all-black wardrobe, complete with a ski mask, I guessed they weren't here for a social call. I couldn't help but scoff at their clothes. It was freaking eighty-seven degrees out! They had to have been sweating like a pig.
I felt my heart beat pick up slightly and my muscles tense as adrenaline coursed through my veins. It looked like I was finally going to get some action. I slipped behind one of the trees, peering around it cautiously to watch the stranger without being seen myself.
He (or she) stalked quietly up the road, then started working his/her way up through the trees, drawing ever closer to the white house.
I carefully stepped around the tree I was hiding behind, aiming to sneak up behind the stranger. I cringed as a twig snapped under my foot. In the calm silence of the elms, the sound seemed to be magnified only about, oh, a zillion times.
The stranger whipped around, frantically searching for the source of the sound. Their eyes landed on me, and they immediately turned and began racing back down to the road.
Oh, no, I thought. You're not getting away that easily.
And like a rocket I was off, hurtling through the trees after him. Like I said before, we are much faster than normal humans.
I caught up with him right as he reached the black concrete of the road. I was sure I had him, but then out of nowhere a silver car—it looked like a Viper—came out of nowhere and screeched to a halt in front of the stranger. He ripped the passenger door open, but I was a too fast for him.
In about three second flat I was on top of the guy, dragging him back and throwing him to the ground. I kicked him in the stomach and heard the whoosh as his breath left his lungs. He was already rolling around and moaning in pain, but I threw in an extra punch for good measure. It felt good, too.
I heard the slam of another car door, and before I knew what was happening two other men had grabbed me by the arms and were attempting to pull me into the car. They were no match for me. In one swift move I jabbed them both in the jaw with my elbows, and they staggered back. The other guy had gotten up by now, and he lunged towards me, fists raised. I dodged his blow and threw one of my own, catching him in the face. I felt his nose break, and blood sprayed everywhere. He fell back to the ground, and as I stepped toward him menacingly, he scrambled up and back into the car.
I turned back to the other bozos, fiery anger in my eyes. They took one look at me and leaped up at the same time, scrambling to get back into their fancy Viper. I let them. I wanted them to think they'd gotten away, to feel for at least a couple of minutes that they were safe. I watched as their car sped around the corner of the road, leaving tire marks on the pavement and a cloud of exhaust behind them. Stupid air-polluters.
Then I took a running start and leaped into the air, snapping my pretty speckled wings out behind me.
As soon as my feet left the ground, I felt a new power surge through my entire body, from the very tip of my wings to my toes. I hadn't flown in ages, and I hadn't realized until now how much I missed it. There's nothing like flying to make you feel alive, free, energized.
I shot forward, putting on an extra burst of speed, until I had the tiny silver car in my sight. It was still on the same road, but was coming up on a busy four-way intersection. I shot down like a bullet, aiming right for the car. I wanted to head it off before it reached the traffic.
As I got closer to it, I braced myself, turning in the air so that my feet aimed down.
The metal roof caved in slightly and a satisfying crunch sounded as my feet collided with the top moving vehicle. I fell to my knees, gripping the sides of the roof with my hands to keep myself from sliding off. Then, slowly, cautiously, I crawled forward across the roof, heading for the front of the car. When I got close enough to the windshield, I drew my arm back and punched as hard as I could. My knuckles came back bloody, but I'd cracked the glass.
Immediately the car swerved sharply to the left, and I heard one of the men shout out as the shards of glass rained down on them. I held on tightly as the driver righted the car. When I was sure I wasn't going to suddenly slide right off, I shimmied forward again. I leaned down over the broken windshield till I was looking at the two strangers upside down.
"Hey there," I said cheerfully.
"Aaagh!" they both yelled at the same time. Guess they weren't too pleased to see me.
The car swerved again, only way worse this time. Despite my desperate attempts to hang on, I slid across the metal roof and went…well, flying I guess you could say. My momentum propelled me into the thicket of trees on the side of the road. I heard the sickening crack as my head collided with a tree trunk.
I stood up as quickly as I could, feeling dizzy from my injury, and started to jog after the car. But I was too late; it was already speeding away.
I know what you're thinking: Why didn't I just go after it again? Because they were heading straight for the innocent rush hour traffic, that's why.
So instead I flew dejectedly back to the white house, planning my explanation for this whole mess in my head.
