Shoutouts: girlreadsalot, carly, lillypad22, No namer44, Unknown Writer O.o, Icy. and Fire, neutralhightops, Antha32, Noah Stark Dawnson, Royal Crown (you were close but….), AnikaandAj!
Chapter 4 Through the Looking Glass
Kovu was the first to arrive, his dark, golden wings the only thing visible as he swept down onto the shore and ran forward, his pads sinking inches into the sand.
"Kovu!" I whisper-shouted and waved. The moon was only half full and the stars shone but there was only just enough light to see. Kovu's eyes easily pierced the darkness however and within moments he was rubbing his head against me, purring.
"Easy boy," I whispered, careful to keep my voice down. We'd been on guard ever since Angel had informed us that the others had been captured. Needless to say, we didn't take the news lightly.
Kovu purred deeper and I scratched behind his ears. It took a moment but eventually he calmed enough to pull back and flick two ears against his skull with one paw raised. That was the signal for captured.
"I know, Kovu, Angel told us. Who were you with?" Kovu glanced at Angel but she was a ways off down the beach, her head pointed towards the sky, no doubt waiting for Total. The lion turned back to me and crouched, covering his eyes with his paws and letting out two low, deep growls.
"Iggy, both of them. Anyone else?" Kovu sat up and jerked his head then opened his mouth and closed it. He repeated this several times then growled twice once more. "Both Nudges." I sighed, my teeth clenched. Almost half my Flock was gone right there.
Still, though I knew it was hopeless, I prayed maybe Total would have better news, and that Angel was wrong. Maybe Fang or Gazzy had managed to escape.
Maybe.
Kovu sat watching me patiently and I reached out rubbing behind his ears once more. Gently he leaned his head against my palm and I knelt pressing my face into his silky mane. Kovu purred deep in his throat.
"Max," I turned as Dylan stopped behind me. His sea blue eyes twinkled in the star light and my own widened as he held something out to me.
It was a back pack.
"Where did you…?" I trailed off, taking it into my hands. It was dirty and had a few small holes in it but otherwise it was in great condition. Out of everything we'd managed to find so far it was our luckiest break. The rock shard I had in my pocket was our only weapon. Against guns, it was pretty useless.
"The island's small, I walked it and just happened to see it washed up on shore. Good eyesight, remember?" Dylan said, half smiling as he tapped his temple.
"Great eyesight," I muttered, testing the zipper which I was surprised to find still worked. "Great find."
Dylan nodded modestly and knelt as he began passing the few bits of food we'd managed to scavenge to me as I placed them in the pack. Once it was all in place, the pack was only a quarter of the way full.
"We're going to have to restock." I said, sitting the pack aside. I put my head in my hand and balanced it on my knee. Dylan nodded, his eyes looking somewhere over my shoulder but when I turned there was just Angel staring at the sky. Max was still off searching and blowing steam if she was anything like me.
"What do you wanna do Max? Really?" Dylan's voice was calm, level and I appreciated the fact that he wasn't really judging me like Max. But still, sometimes a little opposition was good. It kept you sharp, on your toes, and ready to act.
I picked up a small stick and began drawing random shapes in the sand as I thought. My mind wandered back to the vision and the images were so clear in my mind it was as if I were seeing them again. The dark, slimy walls of the tunnel with the puddles of water and cold, damp stone. The single light swaying back and forth overhead. The heavy door that creaked open when I yanked it. The wide, dark room so suddenly filled with light that it blinded me.
Then…, nothing.
I opened my eyes and dug the stick into the sand, watching it sway for a moment before standing upright, waiting for a single gust of wind or a sweep of the tide to knock it over. That's what we were. A feather on a beach, waiting to be swept away or drowned out by the waves.
"We're outnumbered, and out weaponed." I said, my voice low, calculating. I looked up at the sky and closed my eyes, for a moment content just to picture Fang's face. But then heart ache and loss threatened to clench my heart and I was forced to open my eyes and concentrate once more.
The only way to save Fang, my children Alex and Ari and the rest of the Flock both here and back on the other side, was to defeat the Directors. And for now that meant buckling down and figuring out a way to beat them.
"Max said that the head quarters were in Germany. And Angel read the other Angel's mind. She said 'the Directors will decide what to do with them…soon.' Maybe that means-."
"Maybe that means they're being taken to Germany!" I sat bolt upright, my eyes widening as I looked at Dylan. He nodded, his mouth clamped tightly from where I'd interrupted him. He didn't really mind though.
"So Angel is taking them to see the Directors. To prove once and for all that she's been right all this time. That Kevin is special." The one that's left, I added in my head but didn't say it out loud. Kevin had been with Fang's group. My only hope was that they'd been able to treat his wounds before they were taken again.
"More than likely she has a plane to get there." Dylan mused, hand on his chin. He glanced at me questionably but I shook my head. "She'd know we were coming before we even got there. We'll have to find another way."
"Do you think we could fly? You flew from Africa to the States when you were younger." Dylan pointed out, a slight frown on his face and I knew he was remembering I'd left to escape him and crazy Gunther Hagen.
"Only if we have to. We were so tired when we got back if those Erasers had attacked then we would have been dead meat. When we arrive in Germany, we'll need to be ready to fight. We won't have a choice."
"So then what?" Dylan asked, but I picked up the stick and started drawing again, leaving the question to silence.
"A ship?" my voice asked, coming from over head. I looked up only to see Max looking down at me. "What?" I asked. She nodded at the sand and I looked down my eyes going wide in surprise. My random drawing had created what looked like a giant cargo ship complete with crates stacked high and waves racing up the sides.
"Max?" Dylan asked, just as surprised as I was. But I just stared open mouthed at what I had drawn. How had I done that?
But then a light bulb went off in my head and I stood up right so fast Max took a step back. "A ship! Of course! Max," I turned to the other me and her eyes widened at the look of excitement on my face. "Iggy, your Iggy, said there was a ship. A ship that brought new mutants to the Schools here. But he never mentioned where. Where, is it?"
"Here, in Florida, about 100 miles away. But why would-." she started only to stop. I watched as my own excitement became mirrored in her own face and we both turned on Dylan who was looking at us in confusion.
"When does it leave?" I asked, my voice almost breathless. I could feel my feathers lifting as a warm breeze sprung up and adrenaline trickled into my veins.
Max's eyes glazed as the ticked off the days in her head. "It arrived yesterday. Which means it will be leaving…" she glanced at the sun which was just below the horizon, it was nearly sunrise. "In two hours!"
My heart beat faster and blood roared in my ears. We had to catch that ship.
"Max." I looked up as Angel walked over, her blue eyes clearer than I'd seen them in a while. "Max we can't leave without Total. He's still at least an hour off. I let him know where we were but he can't fly as fast."
I frowned and resisted the urge to kick up the sand. We needed to leave now. But I wouldn't leave Total.
"We'll wait for him. But tell him to fly as fast as he can. He can rest on the way," I said, holding up the pack. Angel nodded and walked away to where she had been before. I watched her go then turned back to Max and Dylan who were locked in conversation.
"How will we get on the ship?" Dylan asked.
"We'll worry about it when we get there." Max replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Dylan frowned at her and turned to me. "Max?"
"What she said," I waved a hand and crossed my arms over my own chest, making us look even more alike than twins.
Dylan just mumbled something under his breath and looked away.
The wait was long, but felt even longer. The sun was completely above the horizon by the time Total, dishelved and battered looking, landed in a pile of tired limbs and tangled fur. He was panting when Angel scooped him up, whispering kind words to him, and he was still panting when we left, his black wings tucked in along his back as he lay in Angel's arms, eyes wide and body shaking.
We rose above the ocean waves, riding on a warm air current, and I pushed us as fast as we could go. Max was in my arms once more, Dylan flew on my right while Angel flew on my left. Kovu flew beside Dylan, their golden wings, one lighter and the other darker, melding together in the pink dawn sky.
The waves raced past beneath us, the wind streamed off our faces. We were flying across the ocean, the salty tang of the sea coating our tongues and clearing our lungs. I could feel the previous injuries I'd obtained recently stretching and healing, the salt in the air melding with our already regenitive healing to create scars from what should have been still newly closed wounds.
I'd have to keep that in mind.
The sun was a quarter of the way across the sky by the time Max shifted in my arms and pointed towards a peninsula jutting out into the water a half a sky length away. "There's an old military base there, I don't remember the name. The Directors picked it when they took control and established it as a base for offloading new shipments. Over the years, they've all been human shipments."
"Humans?" Dylan said, his head turning to face us. "I thought they unloaded mutants?"
I glanced down at Max and my mouth dropped when she shook her head. "No, they offload humans. What? Did you think they sent already genetically modified subjects? Experiments are from scratch."
"That information would have been helpful before now." I said, my voice hard. Max looked at me in surprise then shrugged. "You should have asked."
Now my mind was spinning. If they offloaded humans, there was a chance many of them could be saved before they were turned into Generation 99. But if you save them, you risk exposing yourself to Angel and the Directors, my voice, no not THE VOICE, but my own, little voice, argued.
The question I now asked myself? What was one life for another?
"The base looks empty." Dylan said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. I turned to him and saw his eyes scrunched up as he looked far ahead of where I could see. Max's lips turned downward and she frowned. "That's not right. It should be full of humans. Do you see the huge metal cages? They should be filled."
"I see them, but they're empty."
"I don't understand." Max said, her eyes narrowed.
"I do."
Dylan and Max turned to me and from the corners of my eyes I even saw Angel look at me. "The other Angel told the Directors where we were. I'd bet anything they freaked and pulled the ship back. In case you told us where it was and we decided to free the humans. Make a mini army of sorts."
"If that's the case, when they get back, they'll kill the humans for good measure." Max said, her voice grim. She looked up at me then quickly away, as if remembering she used to be part of such a thing.
"We have to catch that ship!" Dylan growled, his voice dark. He beat his wings faster as we shot over the peninsula and I bunched my wings, catching up with him easily.
Now we had one more thing to save. Will I ever truly save the world?
Max can't catch a break. That's okay, me either.
Okay, so, it seems the names vary a great bit. I got a lot of different answers so in the end I'll end up going with my choice. I can't tell you boy or girl. But I do have the gender and name figured out. I think you all will agree with me later.
Questions and Comments:
RoyalCrown29: Is it weird I stay up until you update this story?
Me: Not at all, in fact, I stay up until I update this story. ;) haha!
Noah Stark Dawnson: Thanks so much! Any accreditation/publicity I can get is great! I am also a member of MaxDanWiz.
Antha32: Are you going to write more after this?
Me: More than likely. I keep telling myself I'll finish Wasteland and then start on MY novel ideas but nope, I always think of a new Maximum Ride themed story and can't help but write it. Lucky for you guys I guess. ;) lol
neutralhightops: Yes, I got Soren from you and let me say I love the name. ;)
That's all for tonight guys. TTYL and don't forget to review!
Sincerely,
Avenging Angels
