Chapter 4
"But we don't have any money Max…" Nudge said.
Mistake Numero Uno.
"Nu-dge," Gazzy said, hitting her in the side.
"What I do?" she asked, nudging him in the ribs.
"You told!" He complained, giving me an innocent smile.
"That was a secret?" she said, cocking her head to one side.
"Yes!" he complained.
"Sorry Max, but Gazzy kinda…uh, lost…the money for food…" Angel trembled, expecting me to blow up, which I was just about to do until I saw their faces.
"I'm sure we can find another victim to rob," I said coolly, starting to descend from the air.
"You….you're not mad?" Gazzy asked as soon as he landed on the ground.
"The real question is, how did you lose the money in the first place?" I asked, almost blowing up in their faces.
"I…Iggy handed it to me, I put it in my pocket…and it must've fallen out when we were fighting the Erasers…" he stuttered, playing around with his hands nervously.
"Ok…" I said, running my fingers through my hair.
"How about we check a gas station or something…" Nudge suggested, like they had done the last time.
"We could steal a car and force someone to buy it!" Angel piped up, an innocent smile on her face. I smiled at her enthusiasm, but realized what she said was true. We could do that.
"So what do you think?" Angel asked, suddenly interrupting my thoughts. I pondered over this thought again, but she tugged on my arm.
"I guess…" I said reluctantly, unable to say no by the look on Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge's faces. Even Iggy made a pleading face to tease them.
"But where will we find a car?" I asked, somewhat hesitant again.
"We got one from a junkyard the last time now didn't we? We can do it again!" Gazzy exclaimed.
"No one will want to buy something like…that," Nudge said the last part with disgust and made a face, looking up at me.
"I think we might have to do it some other way Gazzy…" I said with a sigh, putting my hand on his shoulder.
"Besides, we're getting close to Kappa anyways; do you think you could hold up for a little while?" I didn't want to let their spirits down, but it would just be too complicated to find a car from a junkyard, fix it up, and then convince someone to buy it…
"But!" Angel almost screeched. Fang put a hand on her shoulder saying,
"Angel, we don't have the time right now, I'm sorry, but we need to get there before the Erasers or even Jeb, pounce on us again." Angel was silent, holding her bear Celeste so tight her knuckles were starting to change color.
"C'mon…" I said, wondering if any of them were starting to grow tired as well. I took off at a running start, and my mind suddenly was on the topic of Ella. I wondered where she was, what she might be doing right now, but pushed it aside for another time when I wasn't running for my life.
Yeah right.
We were airborne in minutes, and even Nudge was silent, Nudge who always had something to say, was silent. Whoa.
"So…" I began uncomfortably, in the middle of six kids, un which all of them were spread out. Nudge looked at me and smiled asking,
"Do you think we'll find anything interesting there Max?" I paused for a moment, wings sweeping in rhythm with hers. When I finally spoke, Nudge had almost forgotten her question in the first place.
"Probably, I mean…I dunno, there might not be anything at all," I said. I didn't want to disappoint her, but it was the truth. That would be a first in our lives, which have basically been big lies.
"Hey look! She talked!" Iggy teased a smile on his face. I scowled jokingly, but remembered how it wouldn't do any good on him. Gazzy laughed, forcing his eyes open as he did so. I nodded slightly towards him, but soon I was laughing with him. Why? Who knows, but it felt good just to be with them…Concentrate Max…The world needs you… My voice interrupted, as he normally does. But for once I was actually able to ignore him.
Yippee! Erasers. Wait…And Jeb? Blech.
"Max!" Fang said, snapping back to the present. An Eraser was hover over me, and he dropped before I had noticed what happened. I rocketed towards the ground, but was able to snap my wings out and pull out from under his bodice before I reached land again. And guess what! We had been flying right over a city.
A woman stopped and stared, screaming when she saw what appeared to be a wolf dropping out of the sky like a bird that had just been shot. Someone was already snapping pictures by the time I had disappeared into the clouds, but most were interested in the flying mutant 'wolf,' which was actually Ari.
"Ugh…" he groaned, and the people scattered like rats. Except for one brave reporter, who was fascinated and stepped closer to the unknown creature.
"What's your…" he started, but his screams drowned out the rest of his sentence as Ari twisted the wrist with the camera. His hand dropped again though and he became unconscious, the concrete he had smashed into in a pile of bricks around him, cracked and dusty. Nudged kicked an eraser in the jaw, a fierce look on her face. He wobbled and fell, but landed in a treetop. You could hear people screaming down below. Between wolves with wings dropping out of the sky, along with Gazzy and Iggy's constant bombs exploding, I wouldn't blame them.
Jeb was in a helicopter that was circling us, an evil grin on his face. Ma-ax…My voice said, and it sounded sing-song, as if it were taunting me. I was paralyzed, my wings the only things that were moving.
My voice was Jeb.
Adrenaline surged through my body and I ignored the Erasers, lunging straight towards the man in the helicopter.