(Max's POV)
"Can we take the subway back to the park?" Nudge asked tiredly.
It was late. We'd decided to sleep in Central Park again. It was huge, dark, and full of trees.
"It's only about eighteen blocks to walk," I said. But Angel was starting to fade too-she wasn't back to a hundred percent by a long shot. And Cookie looked as if she was about to collapse on the sidewalk, she does that a lot. "Let's see how much it would cost."
Five steps down the subway entrance, I was already tense. Nudge, Cookie, Angel, and the Gasman were too tired to hate being in an enclosed space, but Fang, Iggy, and I were twitching.
The fare was two dollars a person, except kids under forty-four inches, who were free. I looked at Angel. Even though she was only six, she was already over four feet tall. But Cookie looked only 2 foot 9. So that was twelve dollars.
Except for the fare, booth was empty. So we'd have to use the automatic fare machine. That is if we were going to be troubled about a small thing like hopping over the turnstile when no one was looking.
Once we were inside, ten minutes went by with no train. Ten long minutes with me feeling like I was about to start screaming and climbing the walls.
As I expected Cookie soon collapsed from exhaustion, that kid had a way of collapsing at the worst of times.
If we'd been followed, if Erasers came…
As Fang picked Cookie up, I saw Iggy turn his head, listening to something from inside the dark tunnel.
"What?" I asked.
"People," he answered. "In there."
"Workers?"
"I don't think so."
I peered into the blackness. Now that I concentrated, I could hear voices too. And way down the line, I saw what looked like the flickering of a fire-its reflected glow from around a bend in the tunnel.
I made a snap decision, which always makes the flock feel so safe and comfortable.
"Let's go," I said, and I jumped off the platform and onto the tracks leading into the darkness.