Disclaimer: Do not own MR, do own plot.

Chapter 10

"Ok people, time to ditch this joint," I said as I walked into Gazzy and Iggy's room.

"Where are we going?" the Gasman asked.

"That depends. Where do you want to go?" I enquired

His face brightened. "You mean we're still on our holiday?"

"You betcha."

He grinned. "Can we check into a really fancy hotel and order room service and pretend we have heaps of money?"

My brow furrowed. "Umm, I think we would be a little conspicuous. But maybe we could check into another hotel like this." I hated to rain on his parade, but I hated the feeling of standing out and being paranoid.

Gazzy's face fell. "Please? We could buy really fancy clothes and pretend we're rich so we fit in."

I smiled at his desire to stay at a fancy hotel. "I'll think about it," I told him, already knowing that we wouldn't go.

"That always means no," he told me.

I ruffled his blonde hair. "Time to pack," I told him as I left the room.

Next I made my way to the girls' room. Angel was sitting on the bed patting Total and Nudge was cleaning her teeth in the bathroom. I thought of all the times we had gone without brushing our teeth. I was glad that she was taking advantage of the time we had now.

"We're leaving. Start packing your bags." I told them.

"Leaving? Where to?" Nudge asked through a mouthful of toothpaste.

Instead of going down the same line as my conversation with Gazzy went, I decided to say, "We'll probably stay in the woods for awhile until we find another hotel."

"Awesome, we get to stay at another hotel? What about the whole 'save the world' thing. Have you given up? Oh no, max. You can't give up!" Nudge said.

I was surprised that she could say that much without spitting toothpaste everywhere. She bent down and spat it into the sink and washed it down the drain.

"I haven't given up," I assured her. I just have no idea what to do. I quickly clamped down on that thought before Angel overheard it. "I'm just giving you guys a little vacation. I thought that was what you wanted."

"We do want it," Angel assured me.

"Does this mean that I won't have to hide?" Total chimed in.

"As soon as we get out of the hotel you won't have to," I told him.

He smiled (as much as a dog can smile) and I left the room. I headed back to mine. Fang was packing his bag with the little clothes he had. He glanced at me as I made my way into the room.

"I figure we should stock up on supplies before we go," I told him. "I'm going to stop at a shop after we leave."

"There's one just around the corner," he informed me.

He zipped up his bag and turned to look at me. I sat down on the bed next to him. "The dream seems to have really shaken you up," he told me, pushing a piece of stray hair behind my ear.

"I can't be having visions. But maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something," I told him. This was a theory I had just started to consider.

"What? Your subconscious mind noticed something your conscious mind didn't? And now you're having dreams?"

"Yeah, or maybe it was the voice trying to show me something and it just didn't hurt."

"The voice can't see the future," he reminded me.

"Oh yeah." It was easy to think that my voice – Jeb- was all powerful. Of course it couldn't see the future. "Or it could have been just a dream."

"Maybe it was."

I looked into his eyes. I knew he didn't really believe that. Probably because I don't freak out over normal dreams. But my sense of unease made me trust my instincts.

"I think something bad is going to happen," I said. I couldn't believe I was admitting this. This was something I could only say to Fang. But what if I was wrong? Fang would never trust me again. This whole thing was probably blown way out of proportion. Why was I admitting this?!

He glanced sideways at me. He could see what no one else could. I was tense and twitchy. I was trying so hard to keep my composure, but I wasn't fooling him. He draped an arm over my shoulders and pulled me close to him. He kissed my temple lightly.

"We're leaving, ok? Nothing bad is going to happen. I won't let it," he assured me.

This remark instantly reminded me of the fact that he hadn't been in my dream. Where had he been?

"What if you're not there?" I asked tentatively.

"I'll always be there."

"You can't be with me every moment of every day. And even if you were bad things could still happen," I said, shaking my head. I wanted to shut the hell up. Why was I spilling all my fears to him? This was so not like me.

He gently turned my head to face him with his hand. His eyes seemed to be filled my so many emotions. He had to help me relax (as much as I can relax). He had to be logical and convince me that everything would be alright. The emotions in his eyes made me want to turn away from him. He had to be strong . . . for me.

"Say something!" I demanded.

He continued to gaze at me. Then he pressed his lips to mine. I instantly forgot about the dream and I started to kiss him back. Ok, maybe this was the best way he could help me relax, 'cause it sure was working.

After what seemed like hours he pulled away from me. I was slightly breathless. He smiled, lighting up my world.

"You'll be fine. I think we ought to get going," he said.

The flock was all ready to go. Fang had already checked out of the hotel and we were standing outside, soaking up the sun. We made our way down the street. After a while of walking we came to an opening leading into the woods. We made our way through it and found a cave a fair way in. It was large enough to hold us all, but we didn't have much room to move around.

"This should keep us warm and it should keep us dry if it rains," I told the flock.

I looked up at the sky. Dark clouds had been forming all day and I could practically smell the rain. We settled into the cave and I opened my pack to see what food we had.

Guess what. None of us had food.

"Oh, right. I forgot we had to go to the store," I said.

"I'll go now," Fang offered. I glanced at him.

"By yourself?" I asked.

"I'm a big boy, I'm sure I can handle it."

I wanted to scream at him to stay. But I didn't want to confirm his suspicions that I had gone mad so I kept my mouth firmly shut. He took off and soon he was out of sight.

"Don't worry, Max," Angel said to me.

I glanced down at her and smiled. "How 'bout we all go and get some firewood?" I asked.

Fang's POV

Fang found the small shop easily. The sun was setting by now and there weren't many customers. He made his way inside.

He walked down the aisles, searching for food that was light and easy to carry. He stopped and chuckled when he saw packets of cookies. He picked up a couple for Max. He was just about finished when he noticed that his neck muscles were tense.

He stopped and glanced around him. No one else was there. He felt his stomach tighten and didn't know what to make of it. Was he sick?

He cautiously made his way to the cashier and paid for the food with the money he had taken out of the Maximum Ride bank account. He stuffed it into his pack and quickly left the store. By the time he got out he was clutching at his stomach. What was wrong with him?!

Then his mind flashed to the hotel room. He was sitting with Max.

"What if you're not there?" she had asked.

"I'll always be there," he had replied.

He wasn't with them now. Oh, God! What if something had happened to them? Was this what Max was talking about? He sprinted to the woods and took off as soon as he was out of sight of the store.

He hoped he wasn't too late.

A/N: Evil cliffhanger. I couldn't help myself. Please REVIEW!