Disclaimer – I. Do. Not. Own. Maximum. Ride.
And if you don't know that by now, then you haven't been paying much attention.
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Ugh.
It was pitch-black. Completely dark – absolutely no light whatsoever. And there was very little space… so little space…
And the pain…
The pain was still there. Why hadn't it gone away? Why couldn't it just go?
Doesn't pain end after death?
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Robbie exhaled, a sharp breath mingled with a tone of pain and hard, physical work, and he put down the log he was dragging across the forest floor. It was heavy, long, and somewhat pointless – at least Robbie thought so. Jack had claimed it was necessary for the campfire.
The campfire.
Why had Robbie even agreed to do it in the first place? All it was going to do was act as a homing beacon for erasers, who would be able to see it from a chopper. Most likely it would burn the whole forest down, which would most definitely not be a good thing.
Robbie sat down on the end of the log, and quietly regained some of his lost strength. He pulled Fox's backpack off his back gracefully, swinging it down onto his lap and unzipping it in one fluid motion. He reached inside, and pulled out the energy drink he had put in earlier. He flicked the cap off, and, putting the opening of the bottle in his mouth, squeezed. A cool jet of juice shot from the bottle onto the roof of his mouth, pouring down its edges and settling in a puddle on his tongue.
Gulping down the first few mouthfuls, Robbie clicked the lid back onto the bottle, and, stowing it away in the backpack for later use, picked up the end of the log, resuming his long and arduous drag through the dark forest.
After a time that felt far longer than it actually was, filled with more rests than actual work, Robbie walked through the lining of trees and into the clearing that they had chosen to camp in.
Which is when he saw that Jack had already set up the fire, and it was burning, sending a pillar of flame ten feet into the air, with tendrils of smoke slowly rising up and above the top of the trees far above, Robbie was absolutely frustrated beyond belief.
"You mean that the last few hours of my work was completely unnecessary?" he practically screamed at Jack, as soon as he had laid the log down. Jack shrugged.
"Actually, we do need that log – to sit on. Do you have any idea how hard the ground is at this time of year?" he asked, turning back to his fire as he did so. Reluctantly, Robbie pulled the log closer to the fire, and, sure that steam was coming out of his ears, sat down upon it, his arms folded tightly against his chest. Amy was the only one brave – or, perhaps, stupid – enough to sit with him. She put her arm around his shoulders, and kissed him quickly on the cheek.
Robbie's evening brightened up after that.
--
After some time, Robbie noticed that someone was missing.
"Where's Nathan?" he asked Amy, an expression of concern lining his face, when he realised that the boy's shiny, blonde hair was nowhere to be seen – strange, as Nathan liked fires almost as much as Jack.
"He's watching the flock – you know, keeping an eye on them," Jack called over, without bothering to turn away from the fire he was now keeping going. "He'll be back in a few minutes."
Robbie smiled gently, glad that his little scare was about nothing rather than something. He turned and faced Geev, his hand still around Amy's shoulders.
"Got any food?" he asked, hungrily. Geev shrugged, and started looking through the supply bag. When Robbie realised, after a few seconds of watching Geev rummaging through empty food packaging, that food was not going to come instantly, he sighed, and turned back towards the fire.
The wind changed direction – although it was still blowing softly, it now blew a wave of warm air from the fire right into his face. It felt amazing, as if he had just dipped into a warm bath. The thought reminded him that none of them had washed in a week.
He didn't really care.
He turned his head slightly, looking over his right shoulder, for no reason than to turn his head away from the intense heat generated by the now-massive fire. His eyes lazily wandered across the row of trees that lined the edge of the clearing, when he saw a movement among them. He instantly tensed – an involuntary reaction – but relaxed again as Nathan walked through the bushes.
"Amy," he called. "Your watch."
Reluctantly, Robbie let go of Amy as she stood up. She walked briskly across the clearing, and into the cover of the trees. Only when he could no longer make out her silhouette did Robbie turn back to the fire. Jack had somehow found another log, and placed it next to his. Sitting down on it, Jack smiled at Robbie.
"Found another one just over there," he said, by means of explanation, pointing towards the trees right behind the fire.
Robbie wanted nothing more than to hit him.
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The Pain.
It might have been fading, but there was no real way to tell. No, it must have been fading. Before, the area was unnoticeable – now it was possible to make out walls. Tight walls, so, so close, there as if to keep the pain in, rather than let it loose.
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"So apparently they've got human parents, and there are files on them in New York!" Nathan finished. He had been telling the story of what he had overheard from the flock, and his tale was just as surprising to his friends as it was to the flock itself.
Robbie sighed.
"We'll be going to New York next, then," he said sadly, knowing full well that it was a long journey, and would probably take them seven hours. And that was without rests.
Everyone else, of course, was excited about this news.
"New York! Oh my God, that is so cool!"
"I wanna go to Central Park, and go on the subway, and eat loads of food…"
"We're going to New York! Oh yeah!"
Robbie buried his face in his hands, and moaned. How could they all be excited about going to a big city? About being in a place that's nigh on impossible to hide in? About trying to not lose the flock in the crowds?
Nevertheless, Robbie tried to sound enthusiastic about the idea, knowing full well that if he did not, Geev and Nathan would pester him all the more about why he wasn't enjoying himself.
"Well, come on guys, lets get some rest," he said. "We've got a long flight tomorrow, and we're gonna need it."
Reluctantly, Nathan and Geev pulled out their sleeping bags from the supply kit, and laid them out on the forest floor. Jack began to, but Robbie caught his eye, and gestured for the cover of the trees.
After he had made sure that the others were asleep, Robbie walked slowly over to the edge of the clearing, with Jack following close behind him. When he reached the first few trunks, he turned around, and faced Jack.
"Are you really that excited about New York?" He asked, his eyebrows raised. Jack sighed, and smiled.
"I think New York could be fun," he started, much to Robbie's surprise, "but it is true – we're going to have a massive flight, and God knows how many difficulties to face when we're there. The cons totally outweigh the pros."
"But," he continued, showing a remarkable depth of insight that Robbie had never thought possible from him, "there isn't really much we're going to need to do there. The flock will have enough protection merely from the same heavy crowds that will make it hard for us to keep a close eye on them. I think we're going to have far less work cut out for us than usual, and that'll give us some time to relax."
Robbie nodded – he hadn't considered that at all. He smiled.
"Well, I'm going to go and find Amy. You go and catch some sleep."
Jack smiled, and turned back towards the clearing. He poured some sand, which he had found in the supply bag, onto the fire – not enough to douse it completely, but enough so that it would die down far quicker.
Robbie, too, smiled, and began to walk further into the cover of the trees, until Jack, the clearing, and the fire had all faded into the background of tree trunks and darkness.
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AN: Wow. That went amazingly, and was possibly the best chapter so far, in my opinion. Oh well. That's just me being bigheaded, I suppose…
Good news: I've got 9 reviews! Or, at least, I did have when I wrote this. I've probably got about 11 now… Hooray! Thanks to all those people who have reviewed – it means the world to me!