Ella smiled and started to read the next chapter. Chapter 55

You might not know this, Ella started to laugh. but cars have a separate parking brake, And so did the rest of the room. "Ha, ha." Max said. "It's so hilarious." not just the foot pedal one. That brake is often not immediately obvious to the naked eye. The room was filled with Laughter coming from Angel, Gazzy, Iggy, Ella, Doctor Martinez, and even a few chuckles from Fang.

Attempting to drive a car before you find and release the parking brake is like trying to drag a Saint Bernard into a bathtub. But enough on that. "How do you know what dragging a Saint Bernard into a bathtub is like?" Dr. M said. "Not that I disagree, but even so." Max shrugged.

"Okay, okay, we're doing okay," I said twenty minutes later, after I finally found and released the parking brake. I felt like I was at the helm of a huge, clumsy runaway elephant. "Vans aren't that great to drive, but at least they have enough seats." Dr. Martinez said. Max shuddered. "They're worse than 'not that great.'"

I was sweating and about to jump out of my skin with anxiety about driving, but I tried to look way confident and calm. The Gasman smirked, "It didn't really work."

Iggy said, "Um, Sorry to let you know Max, but we were all pretty stressed," Fang smacked him before he could go farther. "I mean, it's not as good as flying, but it beats the heck out of walking!" "That's your chosen word of comfort?" Ella asked snickering. "Just read, Ells." Her flustered sister said.

I smiled bravely over at Fang to see him giving me a steady look. "What?"

"Could you take it easy on the hairpin turns?" he said. Doctor Martinez and Ella couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I'm getting better," I said. "I just had to practice."

"I didn't know a van could go up on two wheels like that," Ella could barely say the line without laughing. Nudge said. "For so long." And Now Angel joined in the laughter. Fang snickered. Max smacked him.

"I don't want to barf in a borrowed car," the Gasman said. The laughter just got even louder and Max got up for a glass of water.

I pressed my lips together and focused on the road. Ingrates. "We need to turn east in about five hundred yards," I muttered, peering out the van window. "How do you know there will be a road there, Max?" Her mom asked as Max stared back from the kitchen. Ella snickered, "Hold on, mom, I can answer that one."

A half mile later, I pulled over and rested my head against the steering wheel. "Where the heck is the road?" "See, no road." Ella said, her tone finally sobering up as she realized how close they were. I bellowed in frustration. "There's no freaking road there!" "You were only going by your own senses. It's not like you could have found it on a map or anything." Doctor Martinez said soothingly. Max rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should get a map?" she continued. "And maybe some more food, keep your strength up." Fang smirked at Max.

"You're going by your own directional senses," Fang pointed out.

"And there can't be roads everywhere you feel like there should be a road," Iggy added reasonably. "Wow," Ella said, "you can use your common sense." She laughed and nudged his leg. "Ha, ha. Very funny" He said.

I wanted to smack them both.

Sighing, I pulled out onto the turnoff-less road and did a U-ey.

"I'll just have to take a less efficient route," I said. I hated the sense of time ticking by, of not knowing whether Angel was still alive. And worse, I hated knowing I was getting closer and closer to the School, where everything bad that had ever happened to us had taken place. It felt like I was driving toward certain death, and it was hard to make myself do that. "Yeah, um…" Ella started, "I can't really sympathize with you, but that must have been hard."

Angel, Nudge and Max chuckled a bit. But not much. "Honestly, Ell, I've had to do things even harder than this. This, right here, though, is where it began."

"Argh!" After yet another unexpected turn that led us away from where we should have been going, I pulled over again and punched the steering wheel several times. Every one of my muscles was tense from driving and worry. I had a bad headache. "Again with the headaches," Ella said, "What's wrong with you, Max?" Iggy coughed. "A lot." He said. Max smacked him a little harder than normal. Lately, I'd been having a lot of headaches. Gee, I wonder why?

"It's okay, Max," the Gasman said anxiously. Max smiled at the Gasman and he beamed up at her through those ocean blue eyes.

"Is she hitting the steering wheel?" Iggy asked. Doctor Martinez chuckled along with Ella.

"Look," said Fang, pointing to a sign. "There's a town up ahead. Let's go there, get something to eat, and find an actual map. 'Cause this wandering thing ain't workin'." Doctor Martinez smiled, knowing that she would listen.

Bennett was a small, almost cute town. I sat up tall in the driver's seat and frowned, trying to look older. "Yeah, cause frowning totally makes you look older," Iggy said and Nudge laughed with Ella, Angel and Gazzer. There were several places to eat, I turned into a parking lot slowly and then oh-so-carefully edged the van toward the back of the lot, away from everyone else.

I turned off the engine, and Nudge and Gazzy sprang for the door. "We're alive!" yelled the Gasman.

"Wait!" I told them. "Look, we're really close to the School. This might feel like the middle of nowhere, but really, Erasers could be anywhere and anyone. You know that. So we have to be careful." "Oh snap," Ella said, "You get caught, don't you. That's how you get in. You get caught." She frowned and read on with a little less bounce in her voice.

Maximum laughed, "Don't worry Ella," she said, "we don't get caught yet."

Ella murmured "'yet' she says, yet."

"We have to eat," Nudge said, trying not to whine. It was hard on her – she seemed to burn through calories faster than anyone, except maybe the Gasman. She and the Gasman looked at each other and shrugged.

"I know, Nudge," I said gently. "We're going to. I'm just saying be really careful. Be on guard, and be ready to run, okay? Anybody we see could be an Eraser." "Well that's comforting." Ella muttered and Max chuckled.

They nodded. I flipped down the visor so I could check myself in the mirror, and something small and heavy dropped into my lap. Doctor Martinez winced worriedly.

I froze, my breath stuck in my throat. What –?

Gingerly, I looked down. It wasn't a grenade. Doctor Martinez and Ella let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. It was a key ring. One key was for this van. I looked at it blankly. "You mean," Ella said through her smile, "that you could have just used the key?"

"Well, that'll simplify things," Fang said.

Ella Martinez handed the book to her mother and sighed.

"What?" her half sister asked.

"I know you must go back, but it seems so awful and I just don't know how you make it out alive every time! Or how you do get back. I mean, come on, it's got to be some dastardly plan of the School or something. I bet you don't even get there like you planned to. You probably end up crashing the car for all I know, and Erasers drop out of nowhere!" Her half sister let her finish her rant quietly.

"First of all, El," Max said, "You've been spending way too much time with Nudge. Second, You'll just have to wait on see how we rescue Angel, and thirdly, it hurts that you have that little faith in my driving skills!" she finished sounding wounded but laughed at her sisters smirk.

Doctor Valencia Martinez started to read the next chapter. Chapter 56

"I want my room to smell just like this," Iggy inhaled deeply as the scents of flame-broiled burgers and hot french fries wafted around us. "Not here." She said, "I've been lucky to keep it smelling as fresh as it does now anyway." Iggy smiled at her.

"It would be an improvement," "That's an improvement?" Ella asked, shocked. "I don't even want to know what it smelled like back then."

Max shuddered, "It smelt like ashes and bomb supplies, mixed with your average guy smell." "Totally disgusting," Max and her sister said in complete agreement. I agreed, reading the menu board. My stomach felt like it was trying to digest itself. I was shaky with tension and adrenaline, and felt like I was going to come apart at the seams. Dr. Martinez chuckled, "That sounds like Ella at Final Exam time." "Hey!" Ella said, smirking at her mother.

The fast-food restaurant was crowded and jarringly noisy. All of us felt nervous when we were around regular people. We shuffled into line, trying to be inconspicuous. As far as I could tell, no one here was an Eraser.

But of course Erasers looked pretty normal – until they started morphing and tried to bite your freaking head off.

"I don't eat meat anymore," Nudge announced. At my uncomprehending stare, she said, "Not after seeing the hawks go through rabbits and snakes and other birds. It's just icky." Ella shuddered, "I don't think I could either after that…but you eat meat now…"

"I got over it…Bacon smelled way too good." Nudge said laughing.

Fang stepped up and ordered three double cheeseburgers, a chocolate shake, a soda with caffeine and sugar, three fries, three apple pies. "That's less than you ordered last time," Ella noted. Fang shrugged.

"I've grown." He said simply.

"Feeding a crowd?" the woman behind the counter asked.

"Yes ma'am," Fang said sweetly.

Yeah, him and all his split personalities, I thought. Everyone laughed. I turned back to Nudge.

"Okay," I said, reaching deep into my well of leaderly patience. "Which we all know how deep that well goes," Iggy said, and Max smacked him upside the head twice."

"Hey!" he argued, "what was the second time for?"

"You don't want me to say it out loud, do you?" Max said threateningly. He paled just a fractional amount, but it was enough for the Flock to see and they laughed as their imaginations wandered to try to find out what exactly it was that Iggy was worried about. Angel was rolling on the floor because of what everyone was thinking.

"I thought so." Max smirked and settled back on the floor.

"But you still need lots of protein."

Iggy ordered the same thing as Fang, and I paid for him. Fang waited for him to get his food and unobtrusively led him to the most private booth.

"Um, let's see," I said, stepping up. "Could I have two fried-chicken sandwiches, two double cheeseburgers, four fries, six apple pies, two vanilla shakes, one strawberry shake, and then two triple cheeseburgers, only hold the hamburger?" "That's ridiculous." Ella said, "I mean, I know you've been around for a while but still. I don't think I'll ever get used to how much you guys eat."

"You mean, just cheese on the bun? No meat?" "I think there was only one other time that we had to order it like that." Fang muttered. Max looked at him, "I mean you, of course, but really, it didn't take long for her to go back to eating like a normal mutant bird kid." Max and Fang chuckled as the rest of the room waited for their conversation to end.

"Yes. That would be great." I looked over at Nudge, who nodded.

I was about to faint from hunger, and smelling all the food was killing me. Standing beside me, the Gasman was shifting from foot to foot, looking eager. It seemed like a lifetime before we got our three loaded trays, paid, and joined Fang and Iggy in the back.

Another glance around showed happy families, kids blowing straw wrappers, women talking together, teens hanging out. I sat down warily, and Nudge slid in next to me. The Gasman squeezed in next to her.

Am I tough? Am I strong? Am I hard-core? Absolutely.

Did I whimper with pathetic delight when I sank my teeth into my hot fried-chicken sandwich? "Of course." You betcha.

Nudge was tearing into her cheese bun things, Fang was on his second burger, Iggy could hardly breathe through all the food in his mouth, and the Gasman was wolfing fries by the fistful. We probably looked like starving orphan children. Hey! We were starving orphan children. "Glad we don't wait so long to eat nowadays." Gazzy said as he grabbed a bag of chips. For several minutes all you could hear were disgusting chomping noises. I had a sudden flashback to the fun, civilized meals with Ella and her mom, where we used napkins and good manners and talked about normal things. "Awe," Ella said, "She thought of us."

Great. Now I was choking up and having trouble swallowing. "awe," Ella said again, "She's getting choked up about us." She almost giggled, but she was in the zone. If Max and Fang and Iggy can keep playin around, then so can I. She thought to herself. Good luck with that,Ella heard. Keep out of it, please, Angel? That or you could fill me in, Sorry Ella, I can't tell you anything. Mainly because I don't know what they have planned.

I'm not sure when it happened, "Oh crap," Ella groaned, her devious mindset set on the back burner. but slowly, I became aware that my neck muscles were tensing. I glanced at Fang, who was looking at me sideways while he ate his French fries. I knew that look.

Acting trés casual, I glanced around again. The couple of families who'd been sitting close by were gone. Now it looked as if a bunch of male models had suddenly gotten the munchies. They were surrounding us, tables of them. "Get out of there!" Ella and Doctor Martinez said together.

All good-looking, thick-haired guys with big, pretty eyes and the voices of angels. "You forgot the stench, though," Fang said.

Iggy snorted, "Yeah, really. I thought I could smell something rank, but then again, I did have my mouth stuffed with delicious nourishment.

Oh, man. My stomach dropped like a wheelbarrow full of lead. "Darn-it Max! Why does the chapter always end like that?" Ella asked as Dr. Martinez passed the book on to her eldest daughter.

"what fun would a book be if it didn't have a little suspense in it?" Max answered and started to read. "You know," she said, "it would go faster if no one said anything throughout the chapter."

"But what fun would that be? We don't get a say in what happened?" the Gasman asked.

Max shrugged, "Just sayin's all."

Chapter 57

I gave Fang an almost imperceptible nod and glanced back at the fire exit door behind him. He blinked to show he understood. Then he tapped Iggy's hand.

"Nudge," I said under my breath. "Gazzy. Don't look up. In three seconds, jump over Fang and out that exit door."

Giving no signs that they heard me, Nudge and Iggy kept chewing. Nudge causally took a sip of her shake. Then, in a burst, she leaped up, sprang off our table, and practically crashed through the fire door. The Gasman was practically glued to her back.

"Good heavens," Dr. M said.

I was so proud of them.

The alarm started clanging, but I was right behind them – and Fang and Iggy were on my heels. We made it to the van before the Erasers were out the door. "I'm so glad you guys are as fast as you are." Ella said.

Inside, I jammed the key into the ignition and cranked the engine. Erasers were swarming into the parking lot, already starting to become wolflike. "Hurry, Max!" Angel squeaked, leaning into her brother.

I stomped on the gas and reversed fast, crying out when we felt the thunk of an Eraser being hit. Then I yanked the gear stick into D and we roared over the curb, right through the shrubs that lined the parking lot. The tires squealed as I careened out into traffic, causing a bunch of angry honking from other cars. "And you wonder why I have little faith in your driving skills," Ella muttered.

I cut right through a gas station on the corner, narrowly avoiding hitting several cars. On the other side, I roared back into traffic.

"Max!" Nudge screamed, but I had seen the semitrailer too, and swerved out of its way at the last second. Behind me, I heard the crunch of metal as the truck scraped a car. Then I was weaving in and out of traffic, wishing I knew how to drive better, wishing we had stolen something besides a van.

"It's so bulky!" I cried in frustration as we teetered on two wheels again just turning a corner. Ella and her mom paled, "Max, are you gonna crash?" Angel asked, and glanced at Max and Fang. "Just hold on, Ange, okay?" she nodded. Okay, turning fast. But still.

"It's a van," Fang said, as though blaming me for not stealing a race car.

We sped out of town – I had to get away from all this traffic. My adrenaline was pumping, my arms felt like corded cables on the steering wheel. We had to ditch this van.

"I'm gonna stop!" I yelled over the noise of the engine. "Jump out and get into the air as fast as you can!"

"Okay!" the flock yelled back.

A glance in the rearview mirror showed three black cars following us, catching up to us. They were going a lot faster than we were. I had to buy time. Gritting my teeth, I swung off road suddenly, right into a field of corn. We plowed through the dry stalks, wincing as they smacked the windshield. I tried to zigzag as best I \could and then a bit of light up ahead made me hopeful for a road. "Oh, dear God, Max." Ella said. "I have to agree with Ella here, hon." Dr. M said.

I didn't see anything in the rearview mirror, and the sound of crunching cornstalks was too loud for me to hear other engines. Had we lost them? And yes, here was a road! Excellent! "Watch out!" Ella cried out.

The van tumbled heavily out onto the road, with bone-jolting bumps. As soon as the front tires hit asphalt, I gunned the motor again –

Just as a sedan leaped out in front of us. Everyone winced.

I hit it head-on at sixty miles an hour.

Max put the book down as everyone cringed. "And that, ladies and gentlemen is how I hit a car head on at sixty miles an hour and lived to tell the tale. Now, then, who's up for lunch?"

The room was silent as the three eldest flock members stood up and headed to the kitchen.

a/n:

Hey guys! Sooo it took me a lot longer than i thought it would, but you know how that goes so i'm not gonna waste my time explaining.

But i do want to know what you thought of the chapter! So please review! Your reviews encourage me to write more! They're what got me to finish it tonight/this morning. So thank you.

Oh and quick shout out to everyone who guessed the right movie, it was from the Lion King. not too hard of a guess, but glad you caught on. :D

Now then, I want 10 reviews before I update again okay? count them: the big ONE-ZERO, TEN, DIEZ, UNO E CERO. 10.

So thanks for reading! I hope to get the next one finished soon, but i need those reviews before i can get it up! So don't let me down! :D

Fly on!

~Jezebel Raewin