14.
The 'chicken' game continued. I was hungry, but not unbearably so. Okay, I was starving. We had been flying for hours, and I knew that Max would have to stop for food eventually, even if it was just for Nudge.
I was right, I usually am.
"Fang!" Max yelled back at me over the wind, "We need to refuel. Ideas?"
I scanned the ground, thinking. The mountains were so peaceful looking. In the winter, they'd be all snowy and pristine. But in the summer…
I caught Max's eye, and she nodded. I knew she was thinking what I was thinking.
"Ski slopes," she called out. I nodded at her. "Summertime. Empty vacation houses."
"But will they have food?" Nudge asked.
Hmm, well we always left our house with food, but never for an entire summer.
"We'll see," Max said.
Max led us, flying a large circle, hunting for a good house to burglarize. Spotting something, she tucked her wings in and dove down. Nudge and I followed.
There's just something awesome about flying straight down, almost, in a perfect dive, diving into a deserted ghost town. I can't explain it.
Max sloped out of her dive slowly, and Nudge did the same. I dropped a bit longer, then spread my wings out, not suddenly, but gently, just to get that extra little speed and fun out of it. Ahead of me, Max and Nudge landed and shook out their wings. I did the same, folding my wings up close. My legs felt like jello, and I just wanted to fall over and sleep.
Max pulled out a pocketknife after a quick search for alarms , and slit the window screen. She unlatched it and set it up against a house. Nudge, for once, was silent.
I helped Max jiggle the window frame until the lock came undone, and then I climbed through. This would be the perfect time to execute a spy drop-and-roll move, but I was too tired to do so.
As soon as we were all in, we started tearing open cabinets. I found orange soda, and Max and Nudge hit the gold with canned ravioli, beans, and fruit. A feast.
It took us no time at all to dispose of all this, and the family that lived here would be pretty surprised to find most of their food stock missing. I hoped there was a grocery store in this town.
"Uhh. I feel like, like concrete," Nudge moaned.
"Let's take ten, and rest a bit. We'll feel better once we've digested a minute." I flopped down onto the couch Ooh I love this house, and crossed my legs, folding my arms behind my head for a pillow.
"I second that emotion," Max said sleepily.
We were out within seconds.