The Rescue

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the awesome reviews. Keep reading and you'll soon know how everything turns out. The point of view in this chapter changes and we start out with Fang.

Boom!

Smoke and dirt filled the sky as Gazzy and Iggy's newest invention shot into the air. I couldn't see past my hands, the dust was so thick.

It had taken them a good two hours to assemble the rocket. Then they argued over who was going to shoot it off. Finally, I made them pick a number between one and twenty. Iggy guessed right.

"Hit the deck," Gazzy called. I fell to the ground, hearing the small missile zoom over my head.

When the smoke began to clear, I spotted two large birds flying towards us. One was white and the other was dark brown. Nudge and Angel.

Gazzy waved them in. As he did I scanned the sky for speckled wings and blonde hair.

Where's Max?

Gazzy

As I pushed my blonde curls away from my eyes, I saw Angel rushing towards me. Her face was white, as if she'd seen a ghost. Her blue eyes were glazed over and a few tears slid down her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her thin frame.

"Gazzy," she said, looking up at me, "Gazzy, they hurt Max."

Nudge

When my feet touched the ground I started to run. I saw Gazzy and Iggy out of the corners of my eyes as I sprinted towards Fang. They were covered in dust. I guess their new invention hadn't been very productive.

"Erasers came to the cabin. We were asleep. Angel and I were asleep when they showed up," I started, a few feet away from Fang.

"Max was in the living room. She answered the door. Fang, she was alone. All alone. And Ari was there. We could hear him talking to her in the bedroom," I wiped a tear off my face and continued.

"We heard them fighting her. She was yelling out. They were really hurting her. Angel and I wanted to help, but there were so many of them. We snuck out our bedroom window. I felt so helpless. It's all my fault. We couldn't help her. She's hurt and it's all my fault," I said, pausing for a short moment.

"They set the cabin on fire, Fang. You have to help Max. She didn't come out. The cabin's on fire and she's still inside. You have to save her. We have to go back. She could burn. We have to…"

"Slow down, Nudge! What happened to Max?" Fang asked, putting his hand on my shoulder.

Fang

Tears streamed down Nudge's face as she retold the story. Panic coursed through my veins as I pictured Max, crumpled on the living room floor.

By now Gazzy, Iggy and Angel were standing next to us. Nudge was sitting on the ground, hyperventilating.

"What are we going to do?" Iggy asked. His grey eyes looked right through me.

"You are going to stay here. I'm going to go get Max," I said.

"You can't make us stay here. I'm coming with you," Gazzy argued.

"Me too," Angel said, looking up at me. Her face was dirty and tear-streaked.

"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't help," Iggy exclaimed.

Nudge looked at me with her big, puppy dog eyes. "You're not the only one who loves her," she whispered.

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks and I looked at the sad faces that surrounded me. Max was like a mother, an older sister, to them. We all needed her.

"Okay, let's go get her."

Iggy

We took off quickly and were soon flying through the air. I kept my wings against Nudge's. I could feel the pain radiating off of her body. She kept mumbling to herself, quiet words that only I could hear. We were behind the others.

"It's not your fault," I told her.

"If we'd fought instead of fleeing, Max would be here with us," she whimpered, moving higher in the sky.

"If you had stayed, you or Angel could be lying in a burning building right now. If we hadn't left Max wouldn't have been the one to answer the door. You can spend your life playing the game "IF", but it won't change what happened. Its okay to feel bad, but don't blame yourself. You're not responsible," I told her.

"Thanks, Iggy," Nudge said, Her voice quivered slightly.

We flew in silence, but I could hear Nudge sniffling beside me. The air got heavier and the temperature rose.

"We're here," Fang said. His voice wasn't normal. Its strength was gone.

Nudge angled her wings downward. I shifted mine to match.

Angel

"Holy Moly!" I exclaimed.

The cabin was engulfed in smoke. The air was sticky and I pulled a strand of blonde hair away from my face.

"I'm going in," Fang said, looking at us. He could no longer keep the fear from his voice.

Tears began sliding down my face for the second time.

"Be careful!" I yelled, running up to him.

"I will, sweetheart," he said, brushing my bangs away and kissing my forehead, "I will Angel."

Fang

Four pairs of eyes burned holes in my back as I walked towards the burning house. I shed my jacket and used it to open the door. I could feel the hot metal through the leather and when I opened the door smoke billowed out.

"Max!" I called, trying to scan the entry way. The smoke was so thick that I couldn't see anything in front of me. I wondered if this was how Iggy felt all the time.

I heard a small moan coming from the living room. Orange flames were consuming the walls and furniture, but the flames seemed to be centralized in one area.

"Max," I called again, getting on my hands and knees. The smoke was lighter near the floor and I began crawling towards the living room.

Nudge

"He's been in there too long," I said, pacing back and forth.

Gazzy was comforting Angel, who hadn't stopped crying since Fang went into the cabin. Iggy's unseeing eyes were focused on the house.

"What if he's hurt?" I asked, "What if they're both dead?"

Angel let out a sob and leaned into Gazzy's shoulder.

"Calm down a little bit, would you?" Iggy said, turning to face me, "Fang's good at getting Max out of rough patches."

I took a deep breath, blinked, and turned towards the house.

"Come on, Fang," I whispered, praying for a miracle.

Fang

I'd made my way into the living room, my hands guiding my way. Coughing, I called out for Max. Her occasional moans guided me forward.

Finally, my hand touched something soft. Her hair!

"Max," I whispered, taking her face in my hands. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was ragged.

"Come on, Max. Talk to me," I said, carefully picking up her delicate body. She screamed when I bumped her leg with my knee.

"Please Max," I begged, carefully kissing her lips. Her body was limp in my arms and I could smell burned flesh.

Tears began stinging my eyes. I bit my lip to keep them from falling. No way was I going to be weak now. Not when the Flock and Max needed me most.

"Oh please, baby. Please talk to me," my voice broke.

"Fang," Max whimpered. Her eyes flickered and her gorgeous, chocolate brown eyes settled on my face.

"Hold on, baby. I'm gonna get you out of here," I said, kissing her forehead and carefully standing up.

She smiled weakly then began to cough, clutching her stomach. Blood escaped her mouth and I hurried to get out of the furnace.

I was close to reaching the door when Max reached up and touched my face.

"Fang," Max mumbled. Her eyelids flickered and she coughed again. She tried to whisper something else, but it was incoherent.

"It's going to be okay, Max. We're almost out," I said, stroking her tangled hair.

I pushed the door open and her eyes closed again.

Angel

"He's coming out!" I exclaimed, pushing away from Gazzy.

We watched as Fang came towards us. He cradled Max in his arms and moved cautiously.

"Oh my God, she's covered in blood," Nudge gasped.

She wasn't lying. Max's arm seemed to be bleeding and her blonde hair was caked with so much of it that her hair appeared to be rusty.

When Fang reached us I saw the blood from a broken nose and burn marks covering her skin. My mind picked up his subtle thoughts and I wondered how much more he could take before breaking.

"How bad is it?" Iggy asked. Gazzy led him over to Fang and I watched him carefully examine her body.

"What are we going to do?" Nudge asked. We all knew the answer, but none of us wanted to say it.

"We've got to get her to a hospital," Fang said.

Fang

I carried Max to the nearest highway, the rest of the Flock trailing behind. My arms were sore and my back ached, but I was going to get her help even if it meant walking all the way to the nearest hospital.

When we came up on the road it was deserted. The road was flat and I could see for miles. There wasn't a car in sight.

"I guess we're walking to town, guys," I said, when they reached me.

Surprisingly, no one groaned or complained. Even Nudge was silent. We walked on.

Nudge

We'd walked at least three miles and hadn't seen a single car. I was so used to flying that my feet were sore from pounding the pavement.

"Look, guys!" Angel said, pointing ahead of us. A green SUV was coming our way.

"Help," I began yelling, waving my arms back and forth. Angel and Gazzy joined in and soon the van was pulling onto the shoulder.

A middle-aged Hispanic woman climbed out of the vehicle and started walking towards us. Her mouth dropped at the sight of Max.

"Please, Ma'am," I began, "Could you take us to the nearest hospital?"

She turned to me and nodded her head. "Yes, of course. What happened?"

I looked around at Angel, Gazzy and Fang, hoping one of them had some type of plan.

"Our cabin was robbed and set on fire. Chrissie was the only one home," I explained as we climbed into the van.

"That's horrible," the woman said, as she buckled her seatbelt and hit the gas.

A/N: Please let me know if any of this confuses you. I really like showing the different views, but they may be a little confusing to follow.