Chapter 51

MAX

My head was pounding.

I heard the faint beat of my heart in my chest and sensed the faint smell of smoke.

"Max." A voice called me out of my nothingness.

I began to feel the ache in my wings, the burns on my skin.

Smelled the now overpowering scent of smoke.

Taste the blood running into my mouth from a wound in my head.

Hear the muffled voice calling me back to reality.

"Max!" Fang called. "Max come on, come back to me. There's no way you're dying on my now. Not after all we've been through."

It felt as though my brain was dunked under water and everything that was happening was a million miles away.

I wanted to shout out to him, tell him that I wanted to spend the rest of forever with him. That I loved him. That I would always love him.

Hands pressed down on my chest.

1, 2, 3, 4. Pause. Repeat.

My head was still clouded as the pattern of pumps over my heart continued.

Then I felt the warmth of familiar, irresistible lips pressing against mine and a rush of air flooding my lungs.

Within a second my head was cleared. All that I was thinking about was how amazing it felt to be kissed. Even if it wasn't meant to be a kiss in the first place.

My lips moved against the lips that I just knew were Fangs. My eyes remained closed as my hand went up to rest on the back of his neck, fiddling gently with his soft black hair.

He was startled for a second, obviously wondering whether this was real or just a figment of his imagination. And then with a whisper of my name and a smirk on his perfect lips, he kissed me again with a sweet happiness that Fang only expressed for me.

Fang slowly pulled his lips off of mine and rested our foreheads against each other, nuzzling my nose with his. I laughed and stroked the back of his head, gently running my fingers through his hair that I loved so much.

"How do you feel?" Fang asked quietly.

"Better now that I know you're with me." I chuckled, then stopped, coming to realize that my ribs ached, my breathing was hitching, wings crushed awkwardly beneath me in the ash and rubble that I could feel digging into my back. "What happened? What happened after the explosion?"

Fang hesitated. "Well… Everything's a slight blur. But Jeb, he yanked open a safe room door under the ground and I grabbed you and dove us into it without a second thought. Iggy did the same for Nudge. Jeb got your mom and Ella inside too. We missed the biggest blunt of the explosion."

"And Jeb got inside too right?" I asked, fear building in the pit of my stomach.

Fang ran a hand through his hair and looked at me sadly.

"Fang…" I whispered. "Did he make it inside?"

"No Max. He got your mom and Ella inside and then Iggy and I yelled at him to climb down the ladder and get in, but he shouted something about there not being enough time. That he loved us all. That he was proud of you. The he slammed the steel door on top of us and latched it so we couldn't come out to stop him. He died a hero, Max." Fang murmured.

Tears streamed down my face.

Jeb.

The man I'd hated for years. I'd dreamed about ripping his throat out and seeing him suffer. For years he was the father I never wanted to have. But today he became the father that I'd always dreamed of having. He'd risked his own life with us to save all of those people from the camp that they'd been locked in. He'd died for us.

"Oh Jeb." I sobbed. "Why couldn't I have done something to help?"

"Well before the bomb went off, your whole body kinda went rigid and you got all pale and clutched at your head. You were screaming and sobbing. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't pull you out of it. You're heart stopped beating and you weren't breathing. I thought I'd lost you forever." Fang was struggling for words near the end, his voice breaking.

I put an ash cover hand to his soot covered face, a small smile on his face.

Fang closed his eyes at my touch and reached up to hold my hand to his face. "I love you Max. I love you so much it hurts. You're what keeps me going. You're my reason to keep fighting, to win. I'm so sorry that I ever hurt you. If I ever do that again I promise to let you beat me until my brains fall out. You're my life. My love. The only one I want by my side for the rest of forever."

I gasped, that was the most emotion Fang had ever put into any sentence. Ever. "Fang. I love you more than anything else in the world. You have no idea how much I love you. Everything is right when you're around. I couldn't live in a world without you. Forever sounds amazing as long as I'm with you." I pulled his head down to me and kissed him passionately, smiling against his lips then pulling away. "Oh, and who are you and what have you done with the real Fang?" I asked with a smile.

"What can I say? You've changed me." Fang grinned, making my hear flutter.

He stood up, pulling me up with him.

Looking to my left I saw the smoldering remains of what used to be a modern day concentration camp full of brainwashed people. The building that once housed the one light was destroyed and merely a pile of smoldering ashes.

Looking to my left I saw my mom and Ella shakily getting up and rising out of the ashes and onto their feet, tearfully hugging each other. Nudge and Iggy were very close to each other, their faces less than a centimeter apart. It didn't bother me anymore, though. They'd aged years in the passed few days. Both of them could handle a relationship.

My mom saw me on my feet and immediately ran to me, hugging me tightly and sobbing into my shoulder.

"Oh my sweet girl. I love you so much." She whispered to me.

"I love you too, Mom." I whispered, hugging her tightly.

Ella hugged me too, tears streaming down her face. "You're an amazing sister, Max. I love you."

"Love you too Ell's." I smiled at her, leaning into Fang for support because I was feeling pretty weak at the moment.

"The CSM sent some rescue trucks out here to get us. They can take you anywhere you need." My mom said as two trucks appeared in the distance.

I looked at Fang for a second, then back to my mom. "Thanks mom, but I need to get back to the rest of my flock. You guys go to the hospital and get those cuts and burns looked at. We'll be fine." I smiled at her truthfully.

She looked sad as the cars pulled up to us and she slowly pulled Ella towards the car with her. "Promise me you'll come visit me anytime."

"I will mom. I promise." I whispered.

She nodded and got into the car, I watched them drive away into the distance until I could no longer see them.

And then Nudge was hugging me, holding me so tight I couldn't breath and talking so fast I couldn't even make out a sensible word through her jumble of thoughts and gibberish.

She finished her word flood with a single question, which Iggy just so happened to be asking at the exact same time she was.

"Are you okay Max?" They said in unison.

I nodded. "Yeah guys I'm fine and getting better. Now enough chit chat. I say we go meet up with the rest of the flock."

Then I unfurled my wings, Fang, Iggy, and Nudge following my lead, and we shot off in the direction of the hawk cave.

It felt amazing to have the wind on my face and the air flowing through my sore feathers now that the world was saved.

I looked at Fang. "Now what?"

"We get back to the rest of the flock." Fang said simply.

"Then what?" I asked.

Fang shrugged. "Then we live how we want to live. Fly wherever. Do whatever."

I laughed. "That sounds fantastic to me."


Hey for the third time tonight!

See! I told you I would update three times to make up for the long wait I put you guys through!

Make sure that you've read chapters 48 and 49 too! Because I updated those like five minutes before I updated this one!

Again. I'm begging you to review this story because it makes me feel so amazing when you guys write reviews, even if their really short! I read every single review that I get and that's why I always make sure to mention reviewers in my story because you guys are awesome and deserve to be recognized!

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maximumwriter19