Disclaimer: Once upon a time there was a person who owned Maximum Ride. That person was not me. The end.

There was nothing. I waited, inactive, as Fang finished meticulously organizing the contents of his backpack. I felt as though we should have been doing something, but there was nothing to do. We couldn't look for the rest of the flock, since I couldn't fly, and walking just seemed so pointlessly slow. I had screamed to Angel so many times over in my mind that my head was throbbing. I sat on the ground and watched Fang, not registering the purpose of his movements. He wrapped the food in plastic bags to preserve it. Around and around. Again and again.

I noticed that my skin was gray from the black dust in the air. Gray like death. Because that's what the dust was, wasn't it? Death. It was burned bodies and ruined lives and hopeless winged mutants sorting their food in the shadow of a crumbled brick building.

All of my clothes had turned black as well. My jeans had been a crisp new blue. What color had my sweatshirt been? I tried to remember, but my mind wasn't working anymore. My head throbbed on and on like a freight train. Colors flashed in front of my eyes like train cars whipping past me at a crossroad. Dulled yellow. Faded blue. Washed out orange. It didn't matter now. It was black. All black. My vision cleared and I was looking at Fang again. His clothes were black, but they had been black to begin with. For some reason this struck me as funny. I laughed to myself, a jarring sound in the silence.

Fang looked up at me immediately. I swallowed a delirious giggle. "Max?" Fang asked.

"We match," I said, but suddenly it wasn't funny anymore. I shivered.

"Are you okay?" He had that annoying look of concern on his face.

"Fine, I'm fine… Just peachy," I said, remembering the feeling of the rotting fruit in my lap. The juice had flowed freely, sickly sweet as it coated my hands. Like blood, I thought, and a flash of red blinded me momentarily. I covered my eyes, muttering, "Stop it."

Fang looked as though he would have had me committed to a mental institution, had all the mental institutions not been blown up. "Stop what?" he asked.

"Oh, not you," I said, waving my hand dismissively.

"It's okay, Max," he said, scooting closer to me and laying a hand on my arm. "Maybe you should eat something."

"Not hungry." His condescending tone was bothering me. I shook his hand off my arm. He promptly placed it on my shoulder.

"Then get some sleep."

"Not tired. Cold," I said, and I suddenly was cold, again. My teeth chattered audibly, but the abruptly frigid air calmed my mind, and the red tinge in my vision faded.

Fang was clearly shaken by my temporary lapse in sanity. He looked at me intently, as though he couldn't quite figure out if I was the person he knew or not. Maximum Ride wasn't weak. She didn't talk to herself, not since the Voice, but the Voice had died with Jeb, four years ago.

I drew my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them to conserve any heat that might have been in my body. It didn't feel like there was any, but you never know. Fang wrapped his arm across my shoulders and drew me closer to him. I shivered against the sudden heat. His hand felt warm on my forehead.

"No fever," he muttered, and then, "What's wrong with you?" The question was posed gently, but it stung. What was wrong with me? I opened my mouth to tell him that I didn't know, but he shushed me.

"Eat something," he ordered, with one hand fumbling in his backpack and the other still holding me against him. Before I could protest he had some sort of protein bar unwrapped and in my hands.

"But-"

"I took the wrapper off. It won't stay good much longer; you have to eat it." I gave him a skeptical look. The cold inside me had started to numb; it wasn't as shocking as it had been.

"Here," said Fang, breaking off half of the bar and taking it for himself. He handed the other piece back to me. "Just eat half," he said. I sighed, but brought the food to my mouth and took a bite. Fang had his devoured before I finished chewing. As I was about to take a second bite, something happened, something so shocking that I dropped the food on the ground, where it was flecked with black dust and made completely inedible.

Max?

"Angel?" I said aloud. Fang started and stared at me. I guessed that he wasn't sure if I was hallucinating again.

It's me. We're alive. Me and Nudge and Gazzy.

My body flooded with warmth and relief. "They're okay," I told Fang, who still looked conflicted. Where are you? I asked Angel.

Not sure. I think by where the park was. The park just outside the big buildings.

But how… I thought. That's nowhere near the zoo!

I… I moved us. With my mind. Away from the bomb.

I tried to block any thoughts about how incredibly freaky that was. Um, that's good, sweetie. Can you guys come find us? We're by the edge too, where the oldest building used to be. The brick ones.

No.

Are you okay? What hadn't she told me that kept them from coming?

Well, I, um…

Tell me, Angel. What happened?

I can't really move.

What? Her words barely registered.

It's like my body's sleeping is all. I don't hurt, not much.

Oh god. I buried my face in Fang's sweatshirt. He squeezed my arm.

It's okay, Max. Oh god. She was trying to make me feel better. I felt like crying again. I keep waking up more and more. I'll be fine. But you need to come now. Nudge and Gazzy need food and stuff.

Fang was waiting. "Nudge and Gaz are okay," I summarized. "Angel moved them away from the explosion, telekinetically." My tongue felt thick and clumsy against the large words. "She's not doing so well now; she says she can't move."

I looked at Fang's face. It was nearly expressionless, but there was a hint of shock and curiosity.

"It's what she said," I clarified. "Her powers seem to be working alright, though."

He nodded.

"They're where the park used to be. Just outside the city. But…"

"Your wings," he finished. "I'll carry you."

Oh. Great.

Okay, Angel. I made my thoughts as reassuring as possible. We're coming.

Author's Note:
I'm very proud of myself. That was a fast update! You can thank Lion8520 for that.

Actually, I'm okay with how this chapter turned out. I typed it over a three day period, which is a long time for me. Usually I crank them out in about an hour, read them over, and post them. Actually, sometimes I don't even read them over. Sorry.

Once again, please join the blood and gore movement! The brilliant therealme1123 and I made it up.

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, Wally-West-Go-Zoom, SilverScreech, Ride on silver wings, mergirl007. Please PM your username to anonymouse13 or therealme1123 so we can add you to our lists.

For further elaboration, see my profile.

Thanks to these people for reviewing: therealme1123, vannahQ, senoritasophia13, RippedIntoPieces, kcllxoxo, and Lion8520 (times 8). I want a total of 75 reviews before I update again. Thanks for reading!