Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.
Max's POV:
"What are we going to do, Max?" Nudge asks, after an appropriate amount of silence. I'm glad she waited at least a few minutes, because it's all too much to fully grasp at once.
I shiver, but it's not cold at all. "My mom's still expecting us. We need to be there by tonight. The sooner we get these chips out, the better." What I don't say is that I'm not sure how much these chips can control us. I'm not sure if we can even last till tonight.
Nudge nods, and when her stomach growls obnoxiously, she smiles sheepishly.
I offer her a smirk, moving to where my backpack is, on a quest to find food.
Fang brushes by me. "Got it." He mutters, and I'm probably the only one who hears him. I shiver again, and feel goose bumps rising up on my arms.
I sort of just sit there while Fang pulls a couple cans of macaroni and cheese out of his backpack. Iggy and Gazzy coax a fire with a couple of sticks, and within a few minutes, they've got a small but roaring flame going. Fang cooks the macaroni, which basically means he held the can on top of the fire until he decides the macaroni's ready. In a total of ten minutes, I dished out macaroni in a can to everyone, and we dug in.
"Max?" Gazzy asked.
"Hmm?"
"Will we ever eat cereal for breakfast?"
Oh, my God. My head practically swims with shock at his statement. Not because it's so horrible or rude, but because it's so sad. Sad that most kids complain at eating cereal for breakfast, and here, Gazzy is wishing for some instead of macaroni in a can. I don't mean to turn this completely mushy and corny, but it nearly broke my heart in two that I couldn't even offer the kids something as simple as a proper breakfast.
"Cereal is so overrated, man. Trust me, macaroni's much better. Besides, these cans are perfect to make miniature bombs." Iggy interjects, casually. At any other time, I would be concerned, and tell Iggy off. Instead, I graze my fingers against him, letting him know I was grateful. Gazzy brightens up immediately, the smile on his face so big that it is hard to believe it was ever missing.
"Really? Cool! Will you show me? Please, Iggy!"
Phew. Disaster averted.
…
We're flying. We have been, for several hours now. It's a really good thing that we have a built in sense of direction, because there's no way we would know where we were going otherwise. Iggy's leading, with Gazzy next to him. Why is the blind guy leading? It doesn't really matter, when you're in the sky. There's not much to run into, and our sense of direction isn't something you see, it's something we feel.
Anyway, they're in the front, probably discussing which kind of soup can blows up the best. Me and Fang are in the back. Angel and Nudge are in the middle. Every now and then, I hear Nudge squeal obnoxiously, which leads me to believe that they're probably talking about clothes/shows/boys.
I hear Angel giggle in my head. Nope! She chirps. We're talking about you and Fang and how cute you are.
I sigh inwardly, but don't really care. As long as I don't hear anything they're saying, and Fang doesn't either, I don't mind.
FANG! YOU AND MAX ARE JUST SO CUTE! –cue squeal-
I freak out for a second but then realize that Angel said that in my head, and not out loud. Feeling silly but smiling in spite of myself, I chuckle.
Fang turns and looks at me, his eyebrow raised. It's not weird for him to do that because we haven't talked for more than an hour or so now, maintaining a comfortable silence. He's probably wondering why I'm breaking it.
I shake my head, but he flies closer to me anyways.
"Something's off." He mutters.
This catches my attention. "Wait, what?"
"Something's off." He repeats. "Do you ever remember passing that lake?" He points to this small little lake beneath us and my stomach sinks as I realize that he's right. I have never seen that lake in my life before, and we've been back and forth to Arizona quite a few times now. And it's not just the lake; I can't recognize any of our surroundings.
"We can't be going the wrong way."
"No," He agrees, nodding. "Maybe we're going a different way, but still to the same place?"
Nope. Now that he's brought it up, we have to check it out, or else it'll bother me the rest of the trip.
"It's a little too far-fetched. Let's at least figure out what state we're in." I suggest. He nods. "But don't say anything to the rest of them until we know for sure." I add.
He nods again, reminding me of a bobble-head.
"Guys!" I call, projecting my voice. "Land in that baseball field at 4 o'clock!"
Nobody gives any acknowledgement, but they all start to swoop down, and after making sure they were going in the right direction, I follow. Fang is a wingbeat behind me (Get it? Wingbeat, you know, because we have…never mind.)
As soon as we're all grounded, Nudge bursts out, "Why'd we stop?"
"I need to check something. Figured we could use a break." Fang replies simply, and she doesn't question us further. I'm just a little jealous that Fang doesn't get asked any questions. Had I said the very same thing, I would have been bombarded with questions.
"Can we go to Walmart again?" Gazzy asks excitedly. "I could use some new socks!"
The poor kid is so excited about buying socks that I don't have the heart to refuse him. I don't really want to split up, but I say okay anyways. Iggy, Gazzy, and Nudge all walk, run, and prance, respectfully. Angel stays with us, because she already knows about our suspicions.
"Stay together!" I call out after them, sounding like the very worried mother I am at heart.
"Yes, mom." Fang whispers in my ear. I swat him halfheartedly, too worried about where we are and splitting up.
"Relax." He says. "Let's find a map in that grocery store."
I follow him into the store, holding Angel's hand, trying to ignore the many stares we're getting. One woman actually glares at me, pulling her own child closer to her.
"Why are they staring?" I hiss at Fang. He sort of stares at me incredulously, and half smiles.
I frown. "What?"
"You really don't know?"
I shake my head no.
"We're obviously together, we look about 16 years old, and you're holding the hand of a child." He explains.
Then I get it. They think that Fang and I are together, and that Angel is my kid. I laugh out loud, receiving even more attention.
"Sorry." I whisper. "But that's preposterous." Who says I'm not smart? That's some elevated vocabulary, right there.
Fang shoots me a rare grin. "I know." He says, and then his face is solemn once again. We don't want to ask someone what state we're in, because they'd look at us like we had two heads. Instead, we look over at the postcard section.
My heart sinks as I recognize the image on one of the postcards.
It's the Liberty Bell.
That means that we are all the way in freaking Philadelphia.