Chapter 14

Fang and I sat in a tree, looking up at the stars. I couldn't help but think that the ICBG had picked out a damn good location for a base. The trees were good for… you know, whatever it is you expect trees to be good for, and the sky… ah, I tell you, there was never a cloud anywhere. That didn't matter much during the day, but at night… stars, baby, stars. It's awesome.

"What are you thinking about?" Fang said.

"Like you need to ask?" I said. "You know."

"Well…" he said thoughtfully. "You're watching the stars, that I know for sure. But what else? I've got no way of knowing."

"Well, there's saving the world," I admitted. "That tends to take up head-space. I'm not so scared of Jewel anymore, I don't think. But he's not the only thing out there."

"The Survivors," Fang said, nodding. "We've had some dealings with them. They do seem quite colossally evil." He looked at my hands. "I just realized… where's our promise ring?"

I bit my lip. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, babe. I didn't want to stop wearing it, honest to God. But I've grown six inches, and it didn't fit anymore. And then I lost it. I'm sorry."

He put a finger to my lips. "It's okay," he said. "I've been thinking about maybe getting something more valuable on you anyway."

I stared at him, and I knew that this was why we were out here. He'd gotten off of the subject of saving the world as quickly as possible.

"Fang, please," I said. "No engagement."

"Max, please, yes engagement," he countered, leaning in to me.

"Fang," I grumbled. "This isn't the time."

"Why not?" he said innocently.

"We're at war," I said. "We could die at a moment's notice."

"No, babe," he said. "We're gonna live."

"You don't know that!" I said. "And if you assume that, it's just gonna make our deaths all that much more terrible."

"What do you suggest?" he asked.

"A backup plan," I said. "A will, you know? First, let's get this clear: if I'm ever in a life-threatening situation, save yourself. Save Airy, save the flock. Make me your bottom priority."

He stared at me. "Yeah, that's gonna happen," he said sarcastically.

"I'm serious," I said.

He grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me against the tree trunk. "I'm serious too," he whispered. "You've been dodging my affections my entire life, Max. Not anymore."

"Your entire life?" I repeated skeptically.

"Yeah," he said. "But maybe, with the entire world begging you to say yes to me, you'll cave."

"What, are you gonna blog about it?" I taunted.

"No," Fang said. "The ICBG have resources. They've planted little projectors all over the world." He switched on a small device. I saw the image pop up in the sky: me and Fang, exactly where we were currently, filmed from some impossible vantage point.

"Look at me," Fang said, and I heard it boom out across the countryside. Yeah, it was pretty easy to believe that the entire world was watching.

He held out the box and opened it. "Marry me, Maximum Ride," he said.

You'll notice he didn't say it in the form of a question. Manipulative bastard.

That didn't occur to me until much later. I saw the ring… it wasn't a diamond. It was an onyx gemstone, black as black bears attacking the black forest campground at midnight, just like Fang's eyes and hair and wings.

"Wow," I said. I took the ring in my hand. Running down the side were four tinier gemstones. The first was the palest blue, the second caramel-brown, and the last two a slightly darker blue. I picked up on it; those stones represented Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel, just as the big one represented Fang himself. The stones matched their five different eye colors so beautifully, it was like they were really there, wrapped around that golden ring.

But the beauty of the ring didn't stop there. The gems only took up a quarter of the ring's surface. The rest was engraved. Not with words, but pictures. I could only imagine what kind of machine could have engraved those images so flawlessly. And it wasn't something I could show off. It was just for us. You'd have to be a bird, with bird eyes, in order to see the pictures.

The pictures told the story of my love with Fang. Not in a completely literal way—I don't think I'd want an image of the Red-Haired Wonder on my engagement ring—but as depictions of Fang and myself, our body language and expression changing over time as our feelings for one another developed, and we began to understand exactly how we viewed each other.

"Fang…" I said. "This… this ring is fantastic. And you're… and you're… and you're fantastic." I looked up at the giant projection, which, naturally, only showed the back of my head at that moment. I turned back to Fang to get in full view of the world. "Yes," I said. "That's all I can say: yes. I should have never said anything else to you, for our entire lives, apart from 'yes'."

He put the ring on my finger, and I clamped my mouth onto his. I wanted the world to see that.

I made sure he turned the thing off, though, before we went back to base. No one was gonna see me and Fang getting all sexed up. That was for us alone.

Inside the base, the flock was waiting. Only the four of them. Everyone else in the base must have understood: this was a flock moment. A moment for the six of us, no one else.

"You said yes!" Nudge said happily. "Give me a hug!"

I did so. "Of course I said yes," I muttered.

"I'm so happy," Nudge said. "I am so, so happy."

"No one will stop us now, will they?" Gazzy said. "We're all gonna be together forever, huh?"

"That's right, dude," Fang said. "That's right."

I blushed and turned away.

"Oh, no," Fang said sharply.

I turned back to the flock. They all looked horrified.

"No!" Nudge screamed. "No, no, no! It can't be! IT CAN'T BE! NOT HERE, NOT NOW! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"

"What's going on?" I said uneasily.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Nudge screeched. She ran down the hallway to her room. Iggy followed behind her cautiously.

Gazzy plopped into a chair. He looked like he was in shock. Angel ran a soothing hand across his shoulders.

"What is it?" I demanded.

Fang sighed. "It's your expiration date, Max. One week from today."

I covered my mouth with my hand. "Oh, no."

"We're gonna get rid of it," he said hurriedly. "We're gonna get rid of it, then we're gonna get married, then we're gonna save the world."

I put my hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Backup plan?" I said quietly.

He stared. "I… I don't know. What's the backup plan?"

"We save the world right now," I said. "Just in case, all right? Just in case we can't clear my expiration date, let's get everything out of the way."

"Okay," he said. "I… yeah. Okay."

"And then, if we do figure out how to get rid of it, we'll have a really good life ahead of us," I added. "Okay? Don't freak out, babe." I looked out the door, to the funky, bad-ass stars. "Everything is gonna end up right."