Disclaimer: " Hey James Patterson! You are so awesome!"
"Why?"
"Because YOU wrote the amazing Maximum Ride Series and I didn't! I don't own the series!"
Max's POV
We were all slightly unnerved at how easy Gazzieur and Nudgelie could find us, so we decided to walk for a few hours through the Mazda Forest until we were sure we were far from civilization and then make camp. We eventually found a cluster of wolfberries. I took them off the bush and handed a handful to everyone. We plucked off the hairy, egg-shaped leaves and pinkish flowers to snack on the white berries as we walked. I led the way, occasionally checking the homemade compass and constantly kept everyone in my peripheral vision. All of our footsteps were synced with each other, which is what usually happens when you walk with a group of people for more than several minutes. So it sounded as if it was one heavy person was walking, instead of 6 light-footed people walking. It was very quiet, I could almost swear that I could hear bugs munching on a leaf somewhere.
"You know what?" began Gazzieur, breaking the disheartening silence. "All of your names are quite a mouthful, do any of you have any nicknames?" Angela laughed.
"Are you just asking that question to hide the fact you forgot all of our names except Maxima's?" She asked, bemused.
"Are you asking that question to attempt to sound wise at the fact you brilliantly figured out my plan when all you had to do was read my mind?" He retorted. "Besides no, I didn't forget your names," He said very unconvincingly.
"Is Angela really so hard to pronounce?" Angela asked, deciding to play along.
"No," Gazzieur started, searching for a plausible reason to why he would want to nickname Angela besides the fact he forgot her name. "You just look more like an 'Angel' to me," He said, taking in her golden blond hair that looked like a halo.
"Okay," she said. "Gazzo," She quickly added in, still smiling. Gazzieur raised an eyebrow. I snorted at the court-jester like nickname.
"Gaaaaazzzzoooooooo," he burped.
"More like Gassy," I thought aloud, as everyone cringed away from his gargantuan belch.
"Gaaaaaaazzzzzyyyy," He burped. "I like that," He grinned. I didn't point out that I said Gassy, Gazzy was more well-suited for him anyway. Gazzieur was much too fancy name for him. We discussed nicknames for about ten minutes. I chose to keep my nickname, Max, as opposed to the 'Maxi' and the 'Maxa' that was offered. Fang kept his nickname. Funny, after all the years I've known him he hasn't told me his real name. Iglande became Iggy and Nudgelie was shortened to Nudge. It wasn't hard to get used to the nicknames, since each one suited each of us so well. Let's face it, we weren't Maxima, Angela, Nudgelie, Gazzieur, Iglande, and whatever Fang's real name is. We were Max, Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, and Fang. Noting the allegiant geese flying above and the loyalty that we feel toward each other that grew in (it seemed) only a few hours, I realized something.
"We're a flock," I whispered.
Iggy's POV
She may have whispered it, but we all heard it. We're a flock. We're a flock. The phrase bounced around my head. She was right. We only met her and Fang one or two days ago, and Gazzy and Nudge a few hours ago, but no one could deny the bond that has formed between all of us. I'm not saying I automatically liked all of them. To be honest, Gazzy was kind of annoying, and Max put Angel and me in danger in the first place. Of course, I usually pick up on people's personalities pretty quickly, since I can't judge people on their looks. Now I know there are a bunch of non-blind people out there who don't judge people on their looks, but everyone does at first. For example, even though I've haven't seen Angel for years before I came blind, I know she probably looks innocent and defenseless by the way people treat her when she's anything but. Sure afterwards they get to know the person, but they judge them by looks first. It's natural human nature. However I feel as if I've known the Flock for years instead of less than a week. We just clicked. "Flock," I thought. Like a family, just a very special type of family. It sounded just right. I grinned, and we laughed and talked about our past(minus the painful parts) when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I froze. I strained to hear for what felt off.
"Iggy, what's wrong?" Nudge asked, accidentally bumping into me as I stood frozen in place. I held a finger up to silence her for a moment. Angel, Max, Iggy, Fang, Nudge, Gazzy. 6 people. 7 people breathing.
Max's POV
Iggy thought something was wrong. Adrenaline pumped into my body as I scanned the immediate area. Everything seemed okay. I didn't see anything wrong. Just the forest. Forest green, light green, sparkly green. My head snapped to the place where I spotted the sparkle. It was silently moving through the forest. I chased after it, a half-second later I heard the rest of the flock following closely behind me. It wasn't easy. The green pretty much camouflaged with the rest of the forest. Yes it was sparkly, but barely. But we did have one very good advantage. We were fast. Much ,much faster, than whoever or whatever this was. It had the speed of an average human man. Luckily, it also had the grace. It tripped over a fallen log and we soon pinned him down. I could see why the suit was so shiny. It was the golden suit of a palace guard and it was skillfully camouflaged. He was following us. He must be smart to have following us all this time without getting caught. Fang ripped off his mask, to reveal the face of what appeared to be a human man with dark hair.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"My name is Jeb Batchelder," He said. "And you have to listen to me,"
Now I know you all hate my cliff-hanger endings but I have to make sure you keep reading somehow! I didn't want to end it with them chatting about cute, but otherwise meaningless things. Don't worry, the next chapter will be coming up soon. Oh btw, what do you guys think Fang's real name should be? Or would you rather have him tell her he named himself Fang? Please review!
XOXOXO,
Monique