Here is the next chapter- please read and review as always.

My heart went to my stomach. I saw all of my flock, well and whole, just down the steps. Angel. Nudge. Iggy. Gazzy. Total. Akila. Fang.

I blinked several times, then was reminded of the questioning and stopped.

I choked out a word, "Guys?"

"Max?" Nudge said.

"Yes!" Angel said, elated.

What going on? I asked Angel in my head. Is Ryan bad? Is this a trap?

She answered me aloud, "No, Max, it's alright now. We're going to be free."

Ryan pushed down the stairs, past me. He fumbled around and headed to a key pad by the door. He quickly typed in a long code, at least twenty numbers long, with some repeats, this way, Nudge couldn't sense the password. This time the people had done their research.

The door clicked open.

I saw Fang look at my eyes. I checked him over, quickly, to see if he was okay. He looked fine. He even smiled a little at me, and my stomach jumped.

I went to the door and said, "Come on, we gotta leave now."

"What happened?" Iggy asked, "Max?? How did you get here?"

I sighed, "I'm just gonna say it's a really long and confusing story, okay?"

Iggy rolled his sightless eyes and shrugged, "I trust you, I guess."

"You'd better," this was the type of banter we were used to.

Ryan sighed, "Look, I know that this is some kind of reunion for y'all, but we have to go. You can catch up later. Also, I'm really sorry that this had to happen "

I looked at him, shrewdly, he was playing the good guy for now. I couldn't predict farther than that.

The whole flock filed out of the door, and Ryan shut it behind us. It lead to some type of tunnel.

Iggy and Gazzy looked , while Gazzy looked, at each other. "Uh, Max," he said, "This is a lot like those tunnels at school.," he grimaced at the word 'school'.

I raised my eyebrows at Fang, tunnels at our old school? This was one thing we hadn't heard about. I decided to save that conversation for later.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Iggy said, "The air islike, all musty and damp and still, like it doesn't connect to anything.

I turned to Ryan, "Where are we going?" No nonsense.

He looked back at me, "Some place safe."

"That's not good enough-. " I began, then he interrupted.

"The tunnels come out in a cave, several miles away, then you can fly to another safe place, I would suggest out of the country. The influence of – " he paused, " Well, let's just say that it is safer out of the lion's den."

I liked that he gave us a real answer, not a crap answer, like 'some place that I have prepared specially for you- like a school.'

If he tried that crap, I would tell him something like, as soon as we get out of this tunnel-cough-trap-cough, then I am going to make you wish that you had opted to teach kindergarten.

Instead I smiled genuinely, "Thanks," I said, then blushed.

I felt someone's eyes on me as we walked. I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me turn, but, the feeling was so creepy that I had to check.

Fang's eyes were watching me. Of course. I walked slower so that I fell next to him, "What," I hissed out of the corner of my mouth.

He looked at me, slowly, then glanced at Ryan, as if to say 'why trust him?'.

I rolled my eyes and said, "He rescued me," almost a whisper.

Fang nodded, as if to remind me of Jeb and Anne Walker.

I shrugged, "Suit yourself," again, a whisper.