I'm baaaaack! ...Well, back long enough to update, anyways. Guatemala was fantastic-if any of you ever get the opportunity to go on a humanitarian trip or a missions trip, go for it. Seriously, it's an incredible experience that you don't want to pass up.

Anyways, on with the story! (My next update will probably be late too, by the way. Family vacation.)

9 – Turning Point

Six more girls had to be taken away in the next five days. We haven't seen any of them since.

To say we were all shell-shocked would be a gross understatement. Before Megan went spasmodic, we had been able to go on about our day relatively easily. Sure, we'd all have those moments where we'd remember, "I could die today, and there's nothing I can do about it," but we'd always had one another to comfort us and distract us from our dismal fates. They could hurt me, but they couldn't hurt us, the group. It was suffering together that had made the Flock so close-knit, so indestructible. But these girls were like a flock to me, and now the virus was picking them off one by one.

I knew the other girls were looking up to me, waiting for me to say something to make them feel better, but I stayed curled up alone in my bunk as much as I could to avoid their desperate eyes and terrified tears. They wanted me to take charge, to tell them everything was going to be alright. But who was I kidding? I couldn't help them. I couldn't take away anyone's fear, or stop anyone else from being taken away. I was totally and completely helpless.

For the first time in hours, someone spoke. "Do you think they're dead?" Anna asked quietly.

"I don't know," Kendra replied, "they might be."

"I-I wonder," Cammie stammered, fighting back tears, "I wonder how long it is until something happens to all of us. It's only a matter of time, right?"

"It is if they keep giving us those stupid injections," Anna grumbled. I peeled back my blanket and looked over at Anna, who had taken to sleeping on the bunk where Megan used to be. Her lips were pale and dry and her eyes were bloodshot; she looked nothing like the upbeat, diehard girl I had befriended just a couple of weeks ago. This place had sucked the hope out of her—it had sucked the hope out of all of us. And I hated that.

"We have to get out of here." The words that escaped my lips caught me by surprise. Did I really just say that? Had Everyone in the room had fallen silent, and they stared at me in disbelief.

"You mean," Anna paused, waiting for the guard to pass us by, "you think we should try to escape?"

My mind was still reeling at the suggestion, but slowly it was starting to make sense. "What have we got to lose?" I realized, "Like you guys said, it's only a matter of time until the injections do something to us. If we break out now, before we... change into anything, maybe we'll be okay." The idea sounded better and better even as I was speaking the words.

The bunks filled with anxious murmurs. "But how?" Kendra asked.

That was when my brainwave ended. "I don't know how," I admitted, feeling a little silly, "but there's got to be a way out of here."

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know... do you really think we can?"

I turned to Kendra, then to the others. "I don't think we have a choice."

"We need to find their computer database," Iggy declared, as he and Gazzy flew in the air, trailing their latest transporter. They'd been "If we can hack into their system, we can find Ella, instead of searching aimlessly all day long."

"But we've been in their outposts," Gazzy reminded Iggy, "and there weren't any computers. And I don't think they have them in their trucks either."

Iggy just shook his head. "An operation this big has to have a database somewhere. Maybe there's an access computer in the truck you didn't see, or maybe there's some big central headquarters where they keep their records. Maybe there's even a computer in that really big outpost you spotted earlier."

"Maybe," Gazzy replied uncertainly.

"Besides, you said things look different here. Maybe that means something." As they made their way west, scouring outposts along the way and collecting local info, they had stumbled across a gigantic wall that was under construction beneath them—it looked thick enough to build a two-lane highway on the top of it, and it was made of solid concrete. There were hundreds—maybe even thousands—of people working on it, and Gazzy said he couldn't see either end of it. That's really saying something when you're looking down at the ground from nearly twenty thousand feet up in the air, using your super-vision.

On the other side of the wall, things were very different from the rest of the continent. When Gazzy stopped in one city he saw that even though private cars were still forbidden, busses and subways were still in service. Communications were still down in a lot of places, but electronics hadn't been banned and many stores were still open for business. Everyone on this side of the wall seemed to be functioning fairly normal, despite the presence of Collectors on every corner and the dark transporters that patrolled the streets.

"Hey, our truck just turned onto an abandoned country road," Gazzy pointed out. "Should we try to run him off? Then we can check it for computers."

"You're sure there's only one Collector in the transporter?"

"Yup."

"Then let's go for it. You pretend you're going to hit the windshield and I'll take him by surprise when he tries to leave the cab." Then they dive-bombed towards the ground, their target in hot pursuit.

"Here goes nothing!" Gazzy exclaimed, soaring ahead of Iggy to gain speed on the truck. Iggy listened intently for the telltale sounds of screeching brakes and an out-of-control vehicle in the ditch to fill the air, which would promptly be followed by Gazzy's triumphant whooping.

SCREEEEEEECH!

THUMPTHUMPTHUMP...

"Woo! Yeah!"

That was his cue.

Angling himself towards the noises, Iggy let up as he approached the ground and braced himself for landing. His feet quickly made contact with something solid solid, but instead of the torn-up ground or rough gravel road he'd been expecting, he landed right on the transporter's smooth, metallic roof. My aim's not half-bad, Iggy thought proudly, as he positioned himself directly above the driver's door.

"He's getting out!" Gazzy squealed from a few feet away. The cab door opened, and a boot planted itself on the ground. Showtime. Without hesitation Iggy jumped off the roof and planted his feet directly on the Collector's shoulders, sending him toppling to the ground under the sudden weight. Iggy, however, managed to stay on his feet, and rendered the clone unconscious with a final swift kick.

Gazzy ran over to Iggy and exclaimed, "That was awesome!" Then he noticed the Collector. "Uh, is he still alive?"

"Yeah," Iggy reassured him, "He's just going to be really sore and angry when he wakes up. Come on, let's check this thing out."

They searched the transporter from top to bottom, but other than a few extra supplies they came up empty-handed. The truck didn't even have a GPS; there was only a two-way radio and a few unhelpful buttons and switches.

"Another dead end," Gazzy groaned, "Now what?"

"We find that headquarters I mentioned," Iggy proposed, grimacing slightly. "We'll try that big outpost first."

"You're kidding, right?" Gazzy shook his head emphatically, "That place was full of guards and guns! We can't get past that many goons, even if we use all our bombs up!"

"We have to try," Iggy insisted, "We can't keep flitting around hoping for a lucky find. Ella could be anywhere by now, and we need to find her before it's too late! Besides, we've done harder things; as long as we're careful and plan it out we should be okay."

"But is it really worth the risk?" The Gasman pointed out, "If we get caught sneaking around in there, they'll lock us away, and then we won't be able to help anyone! Maybe if we wait for a lead—"

"Wait for a lead! You mean like all that time we spent in Seattle waiting for a lead on Max and Fang?"

"I'm just saying, maybe someone else will find her first!"

"There is no one else, Gaz!" Iggy exclaimed, "If we don't rescue Ella, nobody will!"

"But we're never going to find her!" Gazzy shouted in exasperation, "We've been flying for days and days, and nothing's turned up!"

"Which is why we need to get access to their files!"

"But it's not worth the risk!"

"Gazzy, Ella's life is in danger!" Iggy growled, "If it was me or Angel, you'd take on those goons in a heartbeat!"

"Yeah, but Ella's—" Gazzy halted mid-sentence.

"She's what, Gazzy?" Iggy snapped coldly. Gazzy stayed silent. "No really, I want to hear the rest."

"Iggy..." Gazzy began apologetically, trying to calm his blind friend down.

"No, don't 'Iggy' me!" he replied angrily, his last nerve snapping, "You think it's not worth the effort because Ella doesn't have wings, don't you? Well newsflash, Gasman, she's still family—Max's family, to be exact! Max would want us to save her." He turned his head so that his eyes were glaring right where he imagined Gazzy's face to be. "Do you want to look Max in the eyes someday and tell her you didn't do everything possible to save Ella's life?"

There was a tense moment of silence. Finally Gazzy murmured, "You know, Angel says you care about Ella more than you care about the rest of us. Maybe even more than you care about Max and Fang being missing." His feet shuffled solemnly against the gravel road.

Feeling calm enough to speak again, Iggy answered him, "Gazzy, that's not true. I care about all of you—you guys are the only family I've ever had! But Ella's part of our family too, and right now she needs our help." He ran his hand through his hair wearily, feeling worn and weary. "You don't have to help if you don't want to, but I still have to try."

But as he spread his wings and prepared to take off he felt Gazzy's hand reach up to his shoulder. "I'll help you," the boy said quietly, standing next to his older friend and unfurling his own wings.

Iggy exhaled, feeling relieved. "Thank you."

"But I'm only helping because you'd be flying around in circles without me to help you," Gazzy informed him, a hint of a smile in his voice, "And because you have a huge thing for Ella."

Iggy's wings retracted slightly at that statement. "What? I do not!"

Gazzy just snickered, "Sure you don't," and then he took off into the crackling blue sky. Iggy, who continued to loudly deny the Gasman's accusations, followed swiftly after.