The Angel Experience
By Holly-Batali
Author's Note: Thanks so much to Aviator301, Jayde3, FateBreaker7, and EyeOfTheTiger for reviewing! (Also, for some clarification, contrary to the way this story is written, I actually have a great sense of humor!)
Disclaimer: I own Kat and nothing else. All original-story credit goes to James Patterson
Chapter 4: "Sunny Seattle"
"Oh, wow," breathed Nudge, her eyes like measuring cups. The flock was soaring over Seattle, coming in for a landing; it was one of those rare sunny days there, and Max didn't want to take any chances of being seen, so they were coming in on the outskirts of town, and would walk in from there. Flying in tight formation, they could converse easily, and the younger ones took advantage of this, especially Nudge. After a day and a half of this, Max was just about ready to cut her own ears off, even with her well-trained patience.
Fang moved closer to her and said, "you sure this is a good idea? It'd be easy to get spotted here."
Max sighed. "Yeah, it's just out luck to get the one sunny day, huh?"
"Actually, I was referring to the population, Max, not the weather. With this many people on the pier, if we were spotted there's nowhere to hide, we're right over the water." Max considered this, feeling like a moron for not thinking of this herself.
"Is there a warehouse dock anywhere, not many people?"
"'dunno, I'll ask Angel." He moved off to the left to see if the six year-old knew anything of interest from nearby thoughts, while Max scanned the approaching horizon. They were flying right on the water, so that they wouldn't have to risk being seen in a dive from above. Going to another crowded city was a big risk, and, knowing what had happened last time, in New York, she was reluctant to risk it. Then again, it could be good cover, just like Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy had pointed out in the hotel. They could get all the information they wanted here, they had tons of resources and, hopefully, no one knew where they were.
"Hey, Max," she jerked her head to the left, Fang looking at her with a suspicious expression. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she returned, "just thinking. You get anything from Angel?"
He nodded, a man of few words. "She says there's a warehouse district due north north-east." Max considered this.
"Okay, we'll head there." And with that she steered the flock away from their previous course and to the warehouses.
The flock crept stealthily through the rows of unmarked storage units, keeping low. They were safely in the city, and it was a 'so far so good' situation. They could hear music and laughter blaring a few yards ahead, and Max poked her head around the corner to check it out. Fang was behind her, followed by Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. There was a group of teenagers around a stereo, listening to Lovecats by the Cure on full blast. She turned back to the flock. "There's a bunch of loser teenagers hanging out on the fence. Unless we can find another route, we're 'gonna have to wait until they clear off." Suddenly Angel smiled.
"I think I can arrange something, Max," she said sweetly. Then she was skipping over to the teenagers, despite the hissed protests from the rest of the flock. Max raised her eyes heaven-ward and silently counted to ten, then turned back to their youngest flock-member. She could see Angel with her hands clasped behind her back, talking to the confused teenagers.
"What's she 'doin," muttered Iggy, sounding impatient.
"Just talking," answered Fang. "They look kind of confused. Oh, now they're picking up the stereo--now they're leaving. They still look confused. Yep, they're gone. Angel's coming back." Angel skipped back up to them, looking very pleased with herself.
"Angel," said Max sternly, "what have I told you about getting into people's heads and telling them what to do?" Angel just smiled sweetly and gave Max a quick peck on the cheek.
"I know, but you didn't want to wait all day until they cleared out, did you?" Well, she's got me there, Max thought in resignation.
"Well, are we gonna get out of here, or are we gonna wait for the next bunch of losers to show up," asked Iggy impatiently.
"All right guys, let's get out of here and find some food." This next statement from Max brought on a quiet round of cheering from the flock, and they headed for the fence where the teenagers with the stereo had been just moments before. They hopped the fence with ease and walked a ways down the wide streets. Finally, Nudge had the sense to check one of the maps outside a Starbucks.
"Okay," Nudge said, drawing out the word. "It looks like we're at...Colorado Avenue South." She traced her finger along the map upwards. "I think a good place to go would be...Pier 57," she said slowly. "It's got food and a gift shop, where we could pick up some new clothes; a Simply Seattle. Huh that's a catchy name..." While everyone else oggled at her mapping skills, she added, "We just go down to South Lander Street, take a left on 1st Avenue, another left on South Atlantic Street, and a right to Alaskan Way; a little over two miles, I'd say." She turned to face the rest of the flock, raising her eyebrows at the stunned expressions. "What?"
"Never mind," said Max shaking her head. A two trays of donuts and hot chocolate later, the flock left the Starbucks and started walking, under the guidance of Nudge, up towards Pier 57.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for the amazing reviews! The Angel Experience just got 107 hits, that's good, so keep reading! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, please feel free to ask. Thanks again, Holly Batali.