The Disbanded: Divided We Stand – Chapter 55

By MyNameIsCAL

---Gazzy's POV---

"THERE IS NOTHING HERE!" Fang shouted, picking up a table and throwing it against the wall.

Max grabbed him by the arm before he could pick up the chairs.

"Hey, that was uncalled for," Ramirez frowned. He had just dodged one of the flying table legs.

Fang broke free of Max's grip and started to scream at Ramirez.

"Someone's gotta stop him before he hurts Ramirez," Iggy whispered.

"Fang, stop it!" Max began to reach for Fang again, but continued advancing towards Ramirez.

"YOU THINK YOU UNDERSTAND US, UNDERSTAND ME, BUT YOU DON'T!" Fang ranted on. "WELL YOU WOULDN'T LAST ONE DAY IN MY SHOES…"

"Fang!" Max said more sternly. She grabbed him by the arm again and he pushed her off. When she tried to stop him again, he turned and started to shout at her. And then Max slapped him across the face.

"That didn't sound good," Iggy commented.

"Fang, listen to me," Max spoke to him calmly.

"No, you listen to me!" Fang shot back, throwing a punch at Max.

He hit her in the eye and she stumbled backward a little. And then you could hear the beeping from Fang's heart rate monitor. He put a hand on his chest and closed his eyes.

"What is that?" Ramirez questioned quietly.

Cal was quick to tell him. "He has a heart condition. C'mon, let's get out of here."

Reluctantly, Max slung Fang's arm over her shoulders and led the way to the vans. It was like Fang hadn't punched her at all.


---Max's POV---

Thanks to Cal, Ramirez was in the other van now. I managed to calm Fang down, lowering his heart rate back to normal. He was ashamed of what had happened, clinging to me like a little child, shaking against me as he cried that he was sorry. I think seeing Fang like this hurt me more than the damage that his punch did. He had nothing to worry about. In a few days, all would be forgotten and we would be heading to Chicago.

Fang eventually tired himself out. He slept, almost pitifully against me.

Gazzy handed me one of those instant ice packs from the first aid kit.

"I thought we were supposed to be going to Nevada." Iggy was the first to speak since we had gotten inside the van with Fang all upset.

"Well we were gonna, but Ramirez said to go there and then back. I don't know, I guess at this rate, it doesn't make a difference," I told Iggy, pressing the ice pack to my swollen eye. "It's not like we know one place has a higher chance of them being there than the others."

Iggy shook his head. "I think it was a mistake to have Ramirez join us."

Gazzy was suddenly nodding in agreement.

"Well, there's not much we can now," I said.

Iggy frowned, but said no more.


---Nudge's POV---

We saw the outside world for the first time, well, in years probably. It was dark and dreary, rain falling from the sky, but Angel and I couldn't be happier to see that the outside world still existed. We were in some tall building overlooking what I guessed was Chicago.

The guy who had driven us set food down on the table for us in bags, grease dripping out of the bottom.

"Well, here's your food," he growled. "Eat up before she comes to talk to you."

"Who?" I asked, but he walked out and locked the door.

We sat at the table and opened the bag. It was fast food, but it was better than what they had been serving us when we were being brought place to place. It was all gone within minutes.

"What do you think they'll do to us?" I asked Angel.

She stared out the window. "I told you already. They're going to use us against Max and there's nothing we'll be able to do about it."

"Max will find a way to rescue us," I insisted.

But Angel only shrugged. "Maybe she will."


---Gazzy's POV---

We were on the plane heading to Chicago now. Iggy was asleep next to me, his iPod blasting loud enough that I could make out the songs he was listening to. If he didn't stop listening to music that loud he was going to be both blind and deaf.

Max was wrapping a blanket around Fang. According to her, he was now running a fever. He was asleep, slouched in his chair.

"Max, can I talk to you?" Ramirez took a seat across from her.

"Sure," Max agreed, not giving away and sign of annoyance. She had a black eye, making her look more exhausted than usual.

"Tell me about your friend here," Ramirez motioned to Fang.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Max sighed.

"I'm just worried he's going to hurt you." Well that didn't really answer Max's question, but it definitely explained what he was annoying her about.

"Well, thanks for your concern," she told him.

"I'm serious, Max. Look at you, he's eating away at you emotionally and after this is all over, think twice about settling down with someone like him. He's abusive."

"He's not abusive." Max raised her voice.

Ted walked passed me and took a seat next to Ramirez, talking in almost a whisper. "I know what you saw today didn't look good, Captain, but Fang was right. If you could even last one day, in his shoes, you might understand a few things a lot better. Did I ever tell you that he saved my life? Or do you even know how many times he's put Max before him, even if it meant him getting hurt. I don't think you've even tried to understand any of them since you've met them. Not even Max, as long as you spent as her commanding officer. Neither Gazzy nor Iggy sees you as someone they can trust, and mostly because you haven't taken the time to make it seem like you're sincerely interested in helping us. Tell me, why are you here?"

Ramirez fumbled with his words. Ted had taken him off guard. "Well…Mike and Eli are like sons to me. I would never turn down helping them. And for old friends, you and Max."

"Well maybe you ought to rethink things," Ted sounded like he was frowning. "Because as much as we need the help of someone like you, we can also do without someone like you. Now leave Max and Fang alone. She needs rest and so do you. It'll be a long day tomorrow."

Swiftly, Ramirez was on his feet, disappearing towards the front of the plane. Cal made her way down the aisle now and took a seat next to Ted.

"Thanks," Max said to Ted.

But Ted only shook his head. "I'm going to talk to Mike and Eli when we land."

"No, it's alright. Just leave them be," Max insisted. "Ramirez just wants to be on top of things even though he's not in charge. It'll sink in eventually."

Ted hesitated, "Alright."

And that was the end of the conversation. I fell asleep, listening to Iggy's obnoxiously loud music, wondering if there was something more to Ramirez's ignorance.


And so I won't lie, but you know, it's getting old how Max and the the partial flock she has, plus Ted, Cal and the others ppls are searching at places where Nudge and Angel are clearly not, so let's just say that IN THE NEAR FUTURE there's actually going to finally be some action and eventually, we shall reach either the reunion of the entire flock, or some kind of tragic demise. Teehee. I'll admit I'm running out of ideas for this one, so the end is starting to be planned and things need to start coming together. Anyways, thanks for reading!