So, I heard JP is coming out with another Maximum Ride book. I honestly think he's going to try to clean up the mess he made with Nevermore and pretty much every book after StWaOES. Anywho, thank you: Guest, u dont want 2 no, MissMintCoffeeMocha, and MaximumRider99! Enjoy this chapter, lovlies!

XOXO,

Girlreadsalot

I cried so hard that my voice grew hoarse. I cried until I could no longer breathe out my nose. I cried until my tears ran dry and I couldn't physically force myself to shed another tear. Finally, I managed to pry myself off of Fang and stand.

I looked at the large wet spot on his shoulder, soaked with tears, snot, and drool. "Sorry," I sniffed, wiping at my eyes.

He just shook his head, "Don't. Don't apologize for this. You just lost your mom and sister, you deserve to cry." His deep voice was hoarse and his eyes were red. He must've been crying too.

The sun was just starting to come up in the East, tinging everything in shades of pink and gold. It would have been a beautiful morning if the smell of smoke and death hadn't tainted the air.

There wasn't anything left of the cabin except for the blackened stone chimney, which was miraculously standing still. The rest of it was black ash and dust on the charred earth where it had sat. It didn't stop me from wading into the smoldering and smoking remains to see if there was anything worth salvaging.

I kicked ash and rubble out of the way, not finding anything with the exception of the occasional nail or glass shard. The bodies had burned away and there weren't any remains to look over.

Thankfully, I had established a rule ages ago that said whenever the flock was going somewhere they needed to have their packs with them just in case something happened. All of the flock had their packs with them…except for me. I'd forgotten it sitting on bed upstairs in my haste to leave. I know, "do as I say, not as I do" wasn't a very good leadership motto, but it had worked this time around. I'd have to remember to not make it a habit.

"My pack was inside," I told Fang as he approached me. He'd changed his shirt.

"That sucks."

"I know."

"Are you having any luck?"

I shook my head. "The fire had been so hot that it charbroiled everything."

He left me to continue picking through the rubble.

After about five minutes I gave up and kicked the ash with a groan of frustration. I realized that it probably wasn't my best idea after I started coughing and sneezing. Wiping my nose, I noticed a blackened piece of metal. It looked like part of the bed upstairs.

Curiously, I crouched and grabbed the tin. It seared the skin of my right hand nearly instantly. I swore and tossed it aside angrily and was about to tell the flock to get ready to leave this place behind when something glinted in the early morning sun.

I crouched again and cleared away the ashes, ignoring the throbbing of my hand. The necklace was dirty and still warm to the touch, but it hadn't been damaged as far as I could tell. I stared at it in awe and wiped away the grime on the blue stone with my thumb before pocketing it and standing up.

I didn't really know where to go from here, but we couldn't stay here. There was nothing left. I bit my lip as I considered our options. We didn't really have that many. We could keep going, look for another cabin, look for survivors, or—

Thin wiry arms around my waist broke me out of my deep thought. I twisted around to see Angel looking up at me with tired red eyes and a sad face. I hugged her back and let her bury her face into my soot-streaked shirt.

Not long after she let go, Iggy came over and hugged me. He practically engulfed me with his long arms and towering body. "We'll be okay, Max." He said, his voice was thick. He was resisting the urge to cry. He'd been growing close to Ella and I knew that the two of them had had crushes on one another, but neither of them had been brave enough to speak up.

The Gasman followed his lead. When he wrapped his arms around me and hiccupped into my shirt, my heart broke a little more. He was only nine, much too young to have to deal with this tragedy.

Nudge followed and she sobbed brokenly into my shoulder. She and Ella had been best friends.

After our touchy-feely hug-fest, I looked around at my flock. "Are you guys ready?"

They nodded.

Automatically I did a headcount and frowned when I realized we were one genetic-freak short. "Where's Dylan?"

"He went off to find Sydney," Iggy supplied, "He should be back soon."

Almost on cue, a loud scream of a terrified girl came from the direction of the shed.

Because there were no more walls to the cabin, I could see everything clearly right where I stood.

Dylan had opened the door of the shed and Sydney jumped out, screaming. She swung the heavy two-by-four in her hands in a hard arc and caught Dylan in the side of the head. When she realized who it was she dropped the board and covered her mouth.

Dylan swayed a little from the impact, but managed to close the distance between them and catch her in one of those kisses that bordered on nearly pornographic.

Hope lurched in my chest. If Sydney was alive, maybe mom and Ella were too! I found myself sprinting towards the couple with the rest of the flock, that had rallied around them excitedly.

I was the last to hug Sydney, but when I put my arms around her I noticed how haggard and terrified she looked. She didn't appear to have any serious injuries except for a few bruises and a slight limp. She wasn't cut or bleeding anywhere, thankfully.

"My mom and Ella?" I asked her, my heart boomed in my chest with anticipation.

Sydney's smile crumpled and she shook her head before burying her face in Dylan's chest and crying so hard her shoulders shook.

It was a hard truth to hear and it hurt like hell, but I knew we couldn't stay here. Mom and Ella were gone and there was nothing we could do about it. I let Sydney have her moment and then I turned to my flock. "Let's get going."

It was a little more difficult for Dylan to take wing with Sydney in his arms, but he was probably the physically strongest out of all of us, so he could handle it.

I didn't know where we were going, so I just picked a direction and flew that way.

We had to stop more frequently than usual to prevent Dylan from getting too tired. Even though he was the strongest he still had his limits.

It was rather amusing to watch Sydney fly with Dylan. She'd wrap her arms around his neck and hold it as tightly as she could. Her green eyes pinched shut and never opened until her feet touched the ground again. More than once I heard her confess her fear of heights to him.

Eventually, we landed for the night and built a fire.

The flock fell asleep as soon as they laid down, but sleep wouldn't come to me as easily. I stared into the flames of the fire, thinking about my mom and my sister. Had it been painful for them or had they died quickly?

I remembered the first time I ever met mom. I had been bleeding with buckshot in my shoulder and wing and she'd removed it and patched me up. She hadn't stared and I had thought that was great.

Ella had been just as accepting of me. She had been so excited to share her room with for a few night until I'd healed. She had said it was just like a sleepover. She had told me all about her crush, the school dance, being a member of the cheerleading squad.

I wiped away a tear that managed to trickle its way out of the corner of my eye and down my cheek. I looked over just as Sydney sat down next to me, staring at the fire.

"I couldn't sleep," The blonde admitted quietly.

I just gave a small nod of acknowledgement and continued to stare into the fire.

We sat listening to the crackling of the fire and the chirping of crickets for what seemed to be an endless amount of minutes. She spoke again, "It was your mom decision…to end her life."

My head snapped up and I looked at her. "What do you mean?"

She inhaled, her breath shuddering in her chest. "The Croats had come in through the back door. We tried to fight, but there were too many of them. One of them got ahold of Ella and bit her in the neck. There was…so much blood everywhere. We were cornered in the kitchen and your mom told me to escape through the window. I did and then the house blew." She didn't look at me as she spoke, "Max I am so—"

I didn't want to hear any apologies. I just wanted to be alone. "Will you take watch?"

She opened and closed her mouth and nodded. "Yeah, I will."

I nodded, dusting myself off. I climbed up a pine tree, made myself comfortable, and fell into a thankfully dreamless sleep.