40 chapters. It's settled. And good golly gosh, this chapter was shoooooort! Sorry about that, but I have exams this week and I actually wasn't planning on writing at all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.

Fang's POV:

"That's it right there." I say, pointing to a cluster below us. There are a few scattered buildings, and one light pole, but for the majority, it's all just stone and sand and dirt. It's so sunny that there's a glare off of the almost blindingly bright sand, making it so that you can't look down. I can pretty much see the steam coming off the ground, and I immediately realize that we've picked one of the hottest days to come to Death Valley.

Max flies closer to me, probably to see where I'm pointing.

"You're sure?" She asks, not facing me but angling her head ever so slightly.

"Yeah." I reply confidently. Even though are tracking systems are shot, Google maps will never fail me.

"Isn't Death Valley huge? How are you sure that this is the exact spot?" Max retorts, challenging me.

I gesture around us. "Do you see any other buildings?" Max looks around, and I know she knows she's lost. There is no other building around us for miles, and since not everybody has handy dandy wings, they couldn't have just stayed in a cave or crevasse.

"Lead the way, smartypants." Max grumbles, swatting me with her hand halfheartedly. I catch her hand and hold it against my cheek.

"After you, grouchypuss." I grin, knowing that my statement probably ruined the cuteness of my action.

Max sticks her tongue out at me and starts to swoop down. I stay hovering for a moment, making sure everybody else got the memo and followed her, and then I arch down behind my family.

Max leads us to a clearing (technically, everywhere is a clearing) about a mile away from the buildings.

"What's the plan?" Angel calmly asks, as if we're discussing the events for the weekend.

"It's still a work in progress." Max admits. "Any ideas?"

"The last time you said that, and we gave our opinion, you completely blew us off and decided to bully us to come here right away anyways. Even though it's 98% definitely a trap." Iggy mumbles.

"Ig, that's not true! If I had it my way, we'd already be in there, guns ablaze and kicking butt! This planning business is the compromise."

Gazzy, who apparently hasn't been listening, jumps up excitedly. "Guns? That's awesome! What kind?"

Nudge rolls her eyes, "It's a figure of speech, dummy."

"Oh." Gazzy says, immediately disinterested.

"Angel, can you get a reading on anybody?" I ask.

Angel shakes her head. "Nobody but the six of us. Maybe if we go closer, I'll be able to tell better."

We all nod and agree and start walking towards the Itex's headquarters. We're walking because flying will attract too much attention to us, and we have to make sure we're not seen. At least, not yet. Once we get closer, we'll make up the plan as we go along.

A few minutes later, I can feel the sweat trickling down my back and it's super uncomfortable. I'm used to being hot, but this is a new level entirely. The heat makes me wish for a nice, cold drink of lemonade. With ice, and one of those little umbrellas on the top. How do people survive in this heat? I think about this for a second and then realize that there's probably a reason this place is called Death Valley.

Maybe people didn't survive.

Shaking my head to rid it of all this morbid thoughts, I walk a little faster to catch up with Max. Nudge, who had been walking by her, drops back unconvincingly slyly, probably to give us 'time alone' or something equally cheesy.

Max raises an eyebrow at me. "You look uncomfortable." She remarks.

"It's hot." My voice sounds dangerously like Iggy's when he gets whiny.

"Maybe if you didn't wear black on black jeans." She quips, looking me up and down. I hang my head; there's no use denying it. I look enviously at her bright yellow tank top and frayed denim shorts.

"Are you suggesting I wear clothes like yours?"

Max rolls her eyes. "No, dummy. I mean, you need to wear a t shirt, preferably white, on guy shorts. You know, the knee length kind."

My eyes widen in mock horror. "W-w-wh-white?" I stutter.

Max laughs. "I'm going to choose your clothes for you next time we go shopping."

It's my turn to roll my eyes. "Okay, mom."

Max just keeps grinning at me, too happy to glare.

"Okay, spill. What's with the excessive happiness?" I demand, sure that she's playing some sort of trick on me.

"Who, me? You mean I'm not always this bright and sunny and cheerful?" She puts on her best innocent face, but let's face it. Max? Innocent? In the same sentence?

Nope.

Never.

"That's an understatement." Iggy says from my left. I jump, not having noticed him.

Max stares at me in amazement. "Ig, you just startled Fang!"

Iggy grins. "I finally got one over Fangy? Oh, frabjous day!"

I do my best to glare at them, but I might as well not bother. It is wasted on Iggy, and I can't stay mad at Max for long.

"I can hear them!" Angel shouts, and we all whirl around to face her.

"What do you hear?" Max asks urgently.

Angel sways for a second before responding, so I run over to her and hold her upright. "Thanks, Fang. Uh, it's a really big jumbled mess. I can hear-" She breaks off for a second, concentrating, and then resumes- " a ton of mundane thoughts. Just about daily experiments, I hate Dr. B, I'm so stressed, that sort of thing."

"Can you try to single out The Director?" I suggest.

Angel nods, and squeezes her eyes tightly. "She's thinking about the heat. And the view from her office. Oh, wait, yes! She's on the fourth floor. she just thought 'I love having an office on the top floor.' And also" She suddenly stops once again, but this time goes deathly pale.

"Angel, sweetie, what's wrong?" Max asks. Behind her, the Gasman also look equally worried about his sister.

"She saw us, Max. She saw us from her fourth story window."

Review in compensation for my almost definitely failing exam grade in Biology tomorrow!

Well, actually, I'm going to go study my butt off so I don't fail. But you should review anyways. :)