Disclaimer: I own Maximum Ride! All three of them, actually, in their original hardcover binding. I don't like the paperback; they look like cheap grocery store novels. Actually, I saw them in the grocery store once, in paperback...

Nudge opened her eyes. Everything around her was dark. Her entire body felt as though it had been flattened, like in the cartoons she used to watch on TV. A wide-eyed Gazzy was leaning over her, and Angel seemed to be sleeping at her side.

Wordlessly, Nudge rolled onto her side, every muscle in her body protesting. She reached her hand under Angel's chin and placed two fingers by the side of her neck.

There was a pulse.

Nudge took a deep, relieved breath. Angel was alive; all of them were. How? She searched her mind for a memory, for an explanation.

She remembered unfurling her wings at the zoo. The people had stared, and she had had an overwhelming feeling that this was wrong. Max would never have let them show their wings in public. They had flown away quickly, there had been a loud, sudden sound, Angel had grabbed her hand, and then… Nothing. She knew nothing.

"Nudge?" Gazzy's voice broke the silence jarringly. He stared at her fearfully, kneeling by Angel's unconscious body, and Nudge sat up straighter. Max had said that she was in charge, and that applied until they found Max again. Nudge swallowed nervously, wondering if Angel's warning had reached the others in time.

She cleared her throat. "Yeah, Gaz?" She tried her best to sound in control.

Gazzy opened his mouth, and then shut it again. "I… How…" he tried again, but seemed unable to put his question into words. Nudge had never suffered from that problem, and she didn't hesitate to fill the space.

"Where are we? What happened? How did we get here? Where are Max and Fang and Iggy? Are they even-"

Here, Gazzy's eyes filled with tears and Nudge stopped guiltily. She was supposed to be the strong one. She was supposed to be fierce and calm. How did Max do it? Nudge swallowed again.

"Sorry," she apologized. A single tear ran down Gazzy's cheek, leaving a watery streak on his dirt-covered face. "It's okay," Nudge said, steadying her voice. "Everything's going to be fine." Gazzy nodded, biting his lip.

"Is Angel going to wake up?" He asked, sounding very young.

Nudge took a deep breath. "Of course she is. I did, right?" Gazzy nodded. Nudge inched closer to Angel, conscious of every individual ache in her body. And there were an awful lot of them.

She stared at Angel's face. Her tangled blond hair was streaked with dirt and- Nudge's heart began to beat faster- blood. Panicking again, she ran her hand through Angel's hair, searching for the injury. She found it quickly- a small cut on the right side of her scalp. It had stopped bleeding except for a few tiny drops of red. Nudge let out a deep breath, surveying the rest of Angel's body. Nothing else seemed to be wrong. She lay there serenely; she could have been asleep.

"Okay," Nudge told Gazzy bracingly. "She's not hurt too bad. I'm going to try to wake her up now."

"Angel," Nudge breathed, touching the girl's shoulder softly. She was struck by how very small Angel looked, though she was tall for a 10-year-old. "Angel," she said again, louder this time. No response.

"Nudge?" Gazzy asked, sounding as if he was going to cry again.

"Don't worry, Gaz. It'll be okay." Nudge shook Angel's shoulders delicately, not wanting to hurt her. She looked so fragile, just laying there. Nudge checked her pulse again. It was steady.

Nudge sighed hopelessly, on the verge of tears herself. She laid her hand gently on Angel's cheek. It was warm, but not like she had a fever; it was warm like life.

You have to wake up, Nudge thought desperately. We need you.

Angel's pinky twitched ever so slightly, but then it was as though she hadn't moved at all. Nudge's eyes welled up; she brushed them quickly before she could cry. She had to be strong now. She was the leader.

Gazzy's lip trembled, and tears spilled silently onto his cheeks.

"Shh," Nudge urged him, not sure how to handle the emotional aspect of leadership. "Don't worry."

"Angel," he choked out. Nudge shifted again so that she was sitting next to him. She took both of his hands in her own.

"Look at me," she said, more harshly than she had intended. Gazzy looked up suddenly.

"Your sister is going to be fine," Nudge said, her voice quavering only slightly. "I promise."

"But…"

"I promise," Nudge said again, more firmly.

"And we'll find Max and Fang and Iggy?" he pressed.

"Of course. And Max will know what to do. Everything will be fine."

Gazzy nodded bravely. Nudge could tell that he believed her. But Nudge wasn't sure if she believed herself.

Previously:

When it happened, Angel had been faced with a split second decision.

She wasn't sure if she could do it. Her powers had been evolving at an alarming rate since she'd been about six, but to try this would be the most risky thing she'd ever done with her mind.

If it went wrong, which was more than likely, it would hurt them. Despite the moral issues she'd faced as a younger child, she had never wanted to hurt anyone. But if she didn't do it, they would all get hurt anyone, maybe even die.

This was her dilemma: action or no action. Either way, the outcome wasn't pretty. But one way, there was a tiny sliver of chance that it would end up alright. And so she decided.

It would hurt her.

All of this went on in Angel's mind in less than a second. She grabbed Nudge and Gazzy's hands in her own, and then she moved her mind- away from the explosion, away from the danger.

And they moved with her.

Author's Note: I'm glad everyone liked the last chapter. I hope this chapter was dark and depressed enough for all of you crazy people, particularly RippedIntoPieces, who asked me, and I quote, to "keep up the depression thing." If you're interested in depressing things, you should check out the oneshot I wrote, "Colorblind." It's full of depression. Yay!

Therealme1123 and I came up with this lovely idea to protest low quality fanfiction. Our war cry is "blood and gore!" Tee hee.
If you'd like to join the protest against crappy, sappy romance fics in which little to no attention is paid to grammar/editing/etc., copy this into your profile and add your name to the list: anonymouse13, therealme1123
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Thanks to therealme1123, RippedIntoPieces, tatasmitty, senoritasophia13, Ozymandyas, and nameless (that name, or lack thereof, kind of freaks me out, by the way) for reviewing. I really appreciate the feedback. If there's anything I can work on to make this better, please let me know. Thanks!

So... I updated even though I got one less review than I wanted, basically because I was bored and wanted to post another chapter. I'm not going to set a limit here, but if I don't start getting more reviews, this story will be updated very slowly. That is all.