A/N: At the moment, I've got sixty three reviews! Go readers! You all get an invisible cookie! And just so you know, I've nothing against anything at the Chicago Aquarium, I swear! Just thought you should know. Oh, one last thing. In chapter 4, I said that ter Borcht could trace them, but in MR3 it does say that the laptop can't be traced. Um…oops? In this story, ter Borcht has some mega fancy equipment, though. It makes sense, right? Ok, sorry. On with the chapter.
"Why can't we just have one normal day? Just one?" I muttered under my breath as the entire audience started running toward us. Yep, you heard right – the whole audience except for ten people. Why the whole audience suddenly hated us, I had no idea. But about two hundred people versus six kids – even genetically enhanced kids – are a bit of a stretch.
"Um, Max?" asked Nudge uncertainly. "How come the whole audience has a grudge against us now? I mean, I know we stepped on their toes, but not everyone's toes! Look, even the kids are coming toward us!"
"They're not people," Angel said suddenly. "They're Flyboys."
"What?" I exclaimed. "How do you know?"
"They have no minds!" she answered, staring at the advancing audience with worried eyes. "And the Headhunter is the one controlling them!" Okay, I knew he was somehow in league with Itex, but this was just insane.
"Gre-eat," I said, stretching out the word. "Flyboys – version 2.0." Now what? I racked my brains. Run or stay, run or out!" I commanded, flinging open the door and making sure that everyone got out before I did. The Flyboy army was almost here, and now I could hear a chanting drone. "You cannot win! You are weak! We are strong! You cannot win! You are weak! We are strong!" The normal people who had just come to watch the show were watching us with wide, frightened eyes. I noticed with exasperation they made no move to help.
As Fang flung himself out of the door, I rushed after him and slammed the door behind me. "Sprint!" I yelled. "They're right behind us!" As we rounded the corner of a hallway, I could hear the door burst open behind me and the chant get louder. The secretary stared at us. "What on earth are you doing?"
"Run for your life!" Gazzy shouted to her. We now faced a mob of people – real people, thank god. "You all need to get out of here!" Gazzy shouted again, to them this time. They looked at him like he was crazy.
"You heard him! Move!" I yelled, pushing through them to try and get to the door. The Flyboys began to pour into the room, and people screamed as some were trampled and began pushing to get to the door.
"Oh, NOW they listen! When they're nearly killed!" I said to Fang, catching up to him.
"That's people for you," he said, his eyes ahead and his arms pumping furiously.
We skidded around another corner. The front doors were in sight. "Heads up, guys!" Iggy shouted. The next thing I heard was a BOOM! And then there was a gaping hole where the doors had been.
"Iggy, if that'd been found in security; do you know how much trouble we'd be in right now?" I said, forgetting to check around for Flyboys in my astonishment.
"What security?" He snickered. "It was lax." We jumped out through the humongous hole where the doors had been.
"U and A!" I shouted. "Everyone, now!" Thank God we always carry our stuff everywhere. The hotel would just have to figure things out. I snapped out my wings, and watched as the rest of my flock did the same. Secrecy was not an option right now. I made sure everyone was in the air, and began to take off myself, but a hand clamped down on my ankle. I looked down.
"Oh, no you don't, you little savage," said a voice in a British accent. My eyes narrowed. Why was the Headhunter always between me and freedom?
"Let go of me," I snarled. I didn't show my surprise when he took out a needle. I started kicking furiously. "Let go!" Why hadn't his grip failed yet?
"Stop struggling," he grunted, trying to force the needle into my leg just above my ankle.
I looked at him in disgust. "Are you on crack? Heck no!" I kicked harder, now trying to hit his face rather than free my leg.
"Max!" Fang's voice called. I glanced back quickly. He had turned around and was coming back toward me. I looked past the Headhunter to the Flyboy army that was just feet away, then to the needle that I hadn't realized was coming closer, and back to Fang.
"No! Go back!" I cried, and punched the Headhunter smack in the face just before the needle punctured my skin. Blood gushed from his nose. "Tell the Flock to go!" His grip finally loosened enough that I could free my foot.
"We're not leaving till you get here!"
"I'm coming! Just go already!" I shouted, pushing my wings down with as much power as I could muster. I took off into the air and sped away from the Flyboys, who were now taking off as well. I sped past Fang. "Why don't you ever do anything I tell you?" I muttered, not meaning for him to hear. I didn't catch what he said in return.
I caught up to the Flock. "Go! Pour on the speed! We're headed through the city!"
"Are you nuts?" Iggy shouted as we sped across the lake towards the skyscrapers. "Do you realize how many people will see us?"
"Do you realize that we're headed back to the School if we don't?" I shot back. "Remember when we were leaving Anne's and were chased by Erasers through the trees? They couldn't fly well, so they crashed. Same idea! Go! Follow Gazzy!" He finally obeyed.
"Max, this time they're robots, though, not Erasers," Fang reminded me.
"So?"
"They can fly better. And besides, they're improved."
"It's the only plan we've got, and I don't see any other way."
Suddenly his eyes lit up. "The water!"
"What?"
"When we were away from you guys, we flew into the water and the Flyboys followed and shorted out. It could work!"
I pondered that for a split second, and then made my decision. "Okay. Water. Guys, change of plan! Fly into the water!"
They angled downward without question, and I felt a surge of pride. Show me some other kids who are this calm and level headed during a crisis, and I'll…I don't know, I'll do something unusual.
"This is gonna hurt!" Fang yelled at the last second.
"What?" I shouted back. "You're telling me this now?"
WHAP! We hit the water streamlined, but it still felt like a bag of bricks had just clobbered me over the head. I rose to the surface slightly groggily and immediately checked the skies. "Incoming!" I yelled as the rest of the flock came up, coughing. The first of the Flyboys hit the water and raised a huge splash.
Suddenly I realized something. "Get out of the water, quick! If there's one thing I learned from science class, it's that electricity and water don't mix." We managed to get out as we watched the Flyboys below short out and spark. "We aaareeee….strooongg…." One said jerkily, and then died. I heaved a huge sigh of relief. That was too close.
"This stinks!" I heard Total say as he was handed from Angel to Iggy. "Can't we have a normal day?" For once, I actually agreed with him.
"Okay, report! How is everyone?"
"Headache, but other than that I'm okay," Nudge said, rubbing her head wistfully.
"I've done this before, so I'm used to it now," Iggy shrugged.
"Same," said Gazzy, smiling gamely.
"I'm fine, but my head hurts too," Angel said. I almost laughed at how messy her hair had gotten from flying into the water, but I caught myself.
"Alright, guys," I said reluctantly. "We can't exactly go back to the hotel…so I guess we're back to finding a nice patch of ground to sleep on." I could see that they were disappointed, but what was I supposed to do? Let them go back to the hotel and get attacked again in a tight spot?
We flew for a long time, our wings moving up and down almost in unison. But, inevitably… "Max? When are we going to stop to eat?" Nudge asked after around two hours. Now that I thought about it, breakfast seemed like years ago.
"Um…" I glanced below to stall for time and saw the blessed golden arches of a McDonald's. "Fast food sound good?"
"Anything sounds good," said Iggy.
"McDonald's, here we come," I said, dipping into a dive above the trees. I was stressed, yeah, but feeling that air rush past my face…it's something, I tell you.
I landed on the branch of a tree and swayed dangerously for a moment, and then caught my balance. I climbed down easily and watched Fang climb down from the same tree. I wish we hadn't had to go…
"What do you guys all want?" I asked. "Nothing too much, though. I have a twenty on me that I found on the ground, but I don't want to use the credit card right now in case they use it to track us." I took their order requests and sighed. It had been SO nice to be full for once.
I wasn't used to people's eyes not going screwy when I ordered. Then I remembered that I'd only ordered enough for normal people. Oh, yeah. Even though this was a fast food restaurant, it seemed to take forever to get our food and get out. I glanced around nervously. Had there been any Flyboys that were smart enough to follow us and not fly into the water?
"Miss? Excuse me, miss?" My head snapped up. Were they talking to me? No one ever calls me miss. "Your food," said the cashier pointedly, holding a bulging paper bag and giving me an odd look.
"Thanks," I muttered, and snatched the bag out of her hand. I stalked out of the door and into the open, fresh air. "Let's go, guys," I said, "We'll eat in the air." The flock, who'd been sitting on the curb, got up and went back into the trees.
"Do you ever wonder why people have to crowd everywhere?" Nudge asked, as she stepped over the curb. "Why can't there just be open space with no one around? Why are there so many people in the first place?"
"You know, that's a good question, Nudge," I said, unfurling my wings with a sigh. If Itex succeeds, there won't be a lot of people, I thought sadly. I'd rather take the crowded world if the other option is over half of the world – including us – dies.
I took off into the sky, feeling once more the rush of wind against my face. This time though, it didn't take away the tension knot in the center of my stomach.
We flew until sunset (or until we fell from Nudge talking our ears off. You pick.). We found the most comfy spot – dry ground in the middle of a forest! (Yay! Sarcasm!) I landed and immediately did a 360 of the area. There was absolutely no one there. Thank God. "Alright, guys, look for some firewood!" I called out. "We don't want to freeze tonight."
"What state are we in now?" Nudge asked, her arms already filled with dry branches.
"I have no idea," I answered honestly. "We'll have to find out tomorrow; I wasn't paying attention to state borders while we were flying."
Soon, we had a warm fire going. Night had fallen, and the only light was from our fire. I could see that everyone was exhausted from our flight. Angel's eyes were drooping, and Gazzy kept yawning, no matter how much he tried to stifle them. "Sleep, guys," I said gently. "I'll take first watch."
"Are you sure?" Iggy asked. "I could do it."
"I'm sure. Go to sleep." I was glad he couldn't see that I was really, really tired, or he would have insisted on staying up. I leaned against the trunk of a tree and wrapped my arms around my knees. There was, once again, no way that I would fall asleep. There was just too much to think about. And I was just slightly afraid of falling asleep again…
I think I was really spaced, because I jumped when Fang tapped my shoulder two hours later. "Max? Are you okay? It's my watch."
"Yeah, I'm – I'm fine," I said, rubbing my arm across my arms. When I didn't get up, he sat down next to me.
"You can go to sleep, you know. I've got it."
"I know that," I said, whacking his arm lightly with the back of my hand.
"Are you afraid to sleep?"
"No," I answered too quickly. Fang held my gaze. I couldn't take it anymore and looked away. Dang it, dang it, dang it! Now he would know that there was something wrong. I'm so stupid sometimes.
"Max…not to sound cocky, but was your dream about me?"
My eyes widened. "How did you-" I clapped a hand over my mouth. If this kept up, I was going to be telling him I loved him soon! Wait! No, I don't! I don't love Fang. I can't love Fang. Can I?
"I knew it," he sighed, leaning back against the tree. "Now will you tell me about it?" I looked at him for a long second.
"Promise not to tell the flock."
"Max, I promise. Just tell me."
I told him; though reliving the look on his face at the end freaked me to no end. When I was done, I was on the verge of tears. He touched my face lightly.
"Max," he said softly. "I will never, ever leave you." I looked up at him hesitantly. His hand moved down to my chin, lifting it up. Then his lips pressed, ever so lightly, against mine.
A/N: Mwa ha. Cliffie! And finally real Fax! Woot!
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