CHAPTER 21

AN: I'm back! Week one: chilling in the sun, typing this up from a gazebo that overlooks the water and was definitely built for me. Week two: Intense action, tubing, knee-boarding, and jumping off 30-foot cliffs with a sprained wrist (and almost getting maimed in the process and landing on my ass). Hated to leave…but at least I have wi-fi now! Chapter 22 coming tomorrow, if not later today. There's just so much to do…brain…imploding…

Max's POV

I waited until both the Flock and the Pack were gathered around me to speak.

"We have to leave now. To my mom's house. She and my sister are in danger because of me."

"What about Angel and Gabriel?" Gazzy asked, his bright eyes wide and scared. I took a deep breath.

"They'll be okay for a little bit on their own. They're smart kids."

"The survivors," Iggy pointed out. "We can't just leave them."

"We're going to have to."

"No!" He snapped, glaring. "They're here because of me, and I'm going to make sure they're safe."

"They're here because of me," I corrected, wasting a glower on him. "And Ella and my mom are a bit more important at the moment."

"I think they're both important," Nudge chimed in. "And same with Angel and Gabriel. We can't, like, pick and choose. It's not fair."

"Well what do you want me to do? They're just a bunch of strangers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They probably have cell phones."

"What if we split up?" Iggy suggested.

"We can't split up."

"Why not? It makes the most sense."

"That's stupid, Ig, we can't do it."

"No, Max, we could totally do it!" Nudge said. "We have the two phones that Nellie and I got, and between all the survivors, they probably have at least one, right? So we can make three groups, and keep in touch by cell phones!" I honestly didn't like the idea of splitting up—that never worked in the past—but it didn't look like I'd win the argument.

"Dory and I will go with the survivors," Iggy offered.

"I want to go with them, too," Nudge put in.

"Me too!" Nellie and Else chirped in unison, laughing as they did so.

"We'll go find the kids," AJ said, gesturing to Damian and herself.

"I'm going to find my sister, too," Gazzy declared.

"Yes," Fuzz burped. I didn't have any say in the matter—which pissed me off, but I'd live—as they started to get into little groups.

"So that leaves me and Fang going to my mom's," I said. "Cool?" I got various forms of 'yes'. Fang didn't miss the wistful glance I shot at the Flock before nodding.

"Hey," he murmured quietly. "This means we get to be alone."

Pathetic, maybe. Say what you want, but that certainly did make me feel marginally better.

•••

Iggy's POV

For a blind guy, I'm impressively good at remembering names. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm a sponge.

Let's see. There was Aidan—the baby I saved—and his family, which consisted of his eight-year-old sister Jess, and his parents (Marion and Dave, in case you were wondering). There was a pregnant couple, Mia and Aaron, and there was an elderly couple, Harry and Lauretta. And then there was the boy who went by Aquarius, or Rus. Basically, Dory and I were in charge of all of them. I mean, Nudge, Nellie, and Else were with us, too, but they weren't exactly the leader type. I wasn't either, but Dory and I were the closest.

Nine total survivors. Four of which were older than me. All I really had to do was get them somewhere with a police station, and somebody else could take over from there. Not hard, right? Even when you're blind, injured, and sick with love.

Well, that's what I thought, at least.

Lauretta was conscious, but Harry informed me that she could hardly walk. And that she needed her pills. And that she couldn't eat anything crunchy.

"What happens if she doesn't get her pills?" I asked nervously.

"She's already missed a night. If she misses two more, that's not good. She absolutely must have them by Sunday night," Harry replied.

"What day is it today?" Please say Monday, I thought.

"Friday." Oh, lovely.

"Can you carry her?"

"I can try, but I've got a slipped disk in my lower back, and I don't know how far, or how fast for that matter, I'll get." I sighed.

"I'll carry her," I said reluctantly. But I heard about what happened to Gazzy, and if she peed on me, I swear to God.

"Bless your heart," Harry murmured before shuffling away.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Dory asked, coming up beside me. "What with your wing and everything?"

"As long as I don't have to fly, I'll be fine," I answered. My wing still hurt, but as long as I kept it in a neutral position, it was tolerable. I still wondered how the survivors were taking the whole mutant thing. They hadn't said anything thus far, so I figured they were just happy that we rescued them. Even if we were, you know, mutant freaks.

"I can carry Lauretta if you want," she offered.

"Nah, I got her. Just make sure I don't walk into anything, all right?" She laughed quietly under her breath.

"Like a tree?"

"Yes. Like a tree." Dory was interrupted before she could say any more.

"Um, excuse me?" I recognized the voice—Aidan's mom.

"Yeah?"

"My daughter, Jess, she has asthma. I'm sure it won't be a problem, but we're not going to be running or anything, correct?" Oh, goody. Another problem.

"No, we'll just walk."

"Okay, thank you."

"Yup."

Max and Fang had already taken off, as with AJ, Damian, Fuzz and Gazzy. We were the last group to move out, and I knew we really had to keep going. Just as I was about to announce that we were leaving, I heard four words that I really did not need to hear.

"My water just broke!"

•••

Max's POV

"I swear, if one more thing goes wrong, I'm going to have a freaking aneurysm."

"Ew," Fang said. "Isn't that when your head explodes, or something?"

"I don't know. I think it has to do with blood cells or whatever. That's not the point, though. The point is that I'm this close to absolutely freaking out."

"The Voice is probably bluffing," he said, trying to make me feel better. "Watch. We'll show up at your mom's, sick with worry, and she and Ella will be sitting on the couch eating popcorn and Pepsi."

"You can't eat Pepsi, Fang, it's a drink," I snapped. He rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean. I bet they're fine."

"I hope so." But hope can only get you so far, you know? I flew a bit faster.

"Let's land here," he suggested. "We can figure out where we are."

"Fine." I angled myself downward and landed lightly in a forest on the outskirts of a small town.

We stopped at a convenience shop, and the woman at the counter told us we were in Savannah, Georgia. I could have sworn we were flying west, but apparently not. I purchased a map and a compass so that I wouldn't make that mistake again.

"How exactly is a map of America going to help us?" Fang asked when we were outside. I shrugged.

"You think I know how to get to Mesa off the top of my head?"

"How are you going to carry it?" I grinned.

"I'm not. You are." I shoved it into his arms, spread my wings, and took off. I found it amusing, how he was trying to roll it up mid-flight. The wind kept blowing it in his face.

I glanced at the compass, and hung a sharp left, almost colliding with a discombobulated Fang. He glanced at me, muttered something incoherent, and continued to try to roll up the map.

"Could you slow down?" He asked, getting aggravated. I sighed and slowed down a tiny bit.

Eventually, even at Fang's pace, we made it to Arizona. I bought another map, but this one was smaller and only of Arizona. I saved Fang the trouble and carried this one by myself.

I recognized Mesa from the air. I probably didn't even need the maps, to tell you the truth. I think it'll always be programmed into my brain. It was even easier to recognize my mom's house.

Of course it was easy to recognize her house. Because it was surrounded by cop cars.

AN: I hate typing on the go, because I can't randomly Google things. And when I finally get somewhere with wi-fi, I can't remember for the life of me what I wanted to randomly Google :/