DISCLAIMER: The most I own the rights to is my life story, which more than likely will not be published. These kids are much more exciting anyway.

9

After my adrenaline rush wore off, I realized that there was a searing pain near the tip of my right wing. Granted, it wasn't as bad as the time I'd had a bullet lodged there, but it hurt like hell, and I realized I couldn't fly on it the hard way.

Picking myself up from the ground, I arched my wing to get a better look at it. I think there was something stuck there, which would explain why it was throbbing so badly. I'd have to have Iggy look at it once I found them. I glanced around cautiously, trying to figure out just where I was in the forest. Our clearing was to the east, but if there had been an Eraser attack, the rest of the Flock was probably ambushed, too.

My heart sank. I really needed to stop having 'private' conversations with Fang in the middle of the night. Bad things always seemed to happen. A twig snapped to my left, and my head whipped around. "Someone's there," the Gasman hissed. Instantly, I was flooded with relief.

"It's Max!" Nudge. She sounded like she'd just seen a pack of Erasers materialize out of nowhere. Instinctively, I glanced over my shoulders. No Erasers. Just me, and the Flock, still hiding in the trees nearby.

"Uh, guys?" I murmured, my voice holding a slightly irritated edge. "It's me. Come on, let's go." No one moved. I heard muffled whispers, and then Angel exclaimed "I know!" What was their problem? I know I taught them to be careful, but it was me for crying out loud!

Oh, Max. It's really you. Angel tumbled out of the bushes and rushed towards me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I blinked, staring down at her before bending down to her level and hugging back. Nudge and the Gasman followed her out, though they were both glancing about warily. The Gasman was staring hard into my eyes, as if trying to see through me.

I tried to sound calm, but the way they were acting was freaking me out a little. "What happened to you guys? You look like you've seen a ghost..."

"Not exactly," Nudge answered, sighing heavily. "We did see you, though, except it wasn't really you. It was an Eraser." My breath caught. Had I heard what I thought I just heard? She continued. "We thought you were Eraser Max for a minute, so we had to have Angel get into your mind. You're the one that taught us to be so careful, but it was weird. If they have a Max on their side..."

I looked down at Angel after she pulled away from me, looking depressed. "I can't read her mind. She has Total. And..."

Then I realized. "Where's Iggy?"

Gazzy held up the small pack Iggy always wore. I knew it was full of explosives. When I reached out for it, (I really couldn't have an eight year old carrying around a bag of bombs, no matter how trained he might be), he pulled it away, tucking it under his arm protectively. "Iggy had a plan. The plan was he was the distraction."

"He's alone. With...me?"

"Eraser you," Nudge clarified. "I told him not to stay, but he said you trained him...Max, you and Fang and Iggy, you'd never leave us, right?" I was caught off guard by the sudden question. My mind had been lingering on how to get Iggy back without totally endangering the entire Flock.

"No, sweetie," my voice had eased into that motherly tone again. "We're a family, we stick together. Right?"

The Gasman sighed. "Not all the time..."

"Where is Iggy? Back at the clearing?"

"Yes." Angel was staring at me. "Max, why are you thinking about your wing?" I winced slightly. Sometimes, that tendency to read my mind when I wasn't looking was irritating, especially when I was trying to hide something from them.

"It's nothing..."

"There's a big piece of bark sticking out of your wing," Gazzy pointed out, pointing to it. Someone touched it, and I nearly yelped in pain. But I was the indestructible Maximum Ride, as Ari called me. So I settled for a grimace.

"It's fine," I echoed, though my voice didn't sound nearly a strong as before.

"You can't fly on that," Nudge pointed out. "Let me get it." I shook my head, tucking my wings in and moving out of her reach. "We're going to get Iggy. He's the only one I trust with my injuries." Which was completely true. Besides Dr. Martinez. But moms were just good at that stuff.

"Max." God, it was strange how much Nudge had grown up in the past few months. She was giving me a hard stare, one she'd most definitely learned from me. "It'll be easier to look for him from the air. You won't get very far with half a tree stuck in your wing. Now let me get it out."

Reluctantly, I extended my wing, and Nudge gripped the twig. I braced myself for pain, but once the thing was yanked out of my feathers, I felt much better. "Wow, that didn't hurt at all..."

Nudge stared at me, holding up the thing that had pierced my wing. "Um, it wasn't a piece of bark..."

It was a fang. Literally an Eraser fang.

Great.

And they were all staring at me, wide eyed.