Good morning! Have another chapter...with a cliffhanger. But you'll read it anyway, because you can't resist:D

Lifeline: Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning to a beautiful fall day, but it was ruined by the crick in my neck from where I had slept against the tree. I stood up tiredly and stretched, looking around the campsite. Fang, Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge were all sleeping, and Iggy was drowsing by the burnt out fire. I wasn't worried about him though, at the slightest sound he was up and alert. Proving my point, Iggy shot upright, and whispered, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Iggy."

He relaxed and stood up to help me restart the fire. Our hushed voices apparently woke Fang, and he sat up with a jerk.

"Max?" he asked huskily, his voice thick from sleep. I looked idly over at him. "Morning, Fang."

"Why didn't you wake me for watch?" he asked, standing up and rubbing his eyes.

"I woke Iggy."

He just gave me a hard look, and I knew I was going to get it later.

Too bad.

In a few minutes, I began affectionately kicking the rest of the flock awake.

"Up and at 'em, guys. Long day ahead of us!" Iggy glanced over at me.

"Really? Where are we going?"

"Um, well, I thought we'd-"

Arizona. The Voice broke in. I jumped; I still wasn't used to it being back.

"Max?" Nudge called.

I snapped out of my daze, stammering, "Oh, right. Well, I thought we'd go to Arizona."

Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge exchanged high fives, then Gazzy turned to me with a perplexed looked on his face. "Where's Ari-zona?"

I chuckled, ruffling his hair as I walked past him to our bags. "It's Arizona, Gazzy, and it's down in the southwestern part of the U.S."

Gazzy still looked confused, and I shook my head. If the poor kid doesn't know where Arizona is, that's a sign of how totally whacked we really are.

We flew in formation with me in the front, followed by Gazzy and Angel, then Iggy and Nudge, and Fang bringing up the rear. Fang had been quiet all morning, and I knew it was because of me taking watch last night. Oh well, he'd get over it eventually. By this time, we had crossed the border into Arizona, and it was starting to get hot, hot, hot. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead, quickly shedding my sweatshirt and stuffing it into my backpack.

I saw a town approaching quickly and called, "Gazzy, Angel, Nudge, Iggy, Fang, land! We need supplies."

I swooped down toward the ground, quickly noting the dark clouds forming on the horizon. As my feet touched the desert-like ground, I stumbled, and fell forward. I shot my hands out in front of me with a surprised exclamation, then hit the ground hard. I yelped in pain, rolling onto my side and grabbing my hand.

"Max, are you OK?" Iggy, not seeing what had happened (obviously) asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," I said absently as I stared at my hand. "Hey Fang, c'mere."

He came over immediately, noticing my anxious expression. I wordlessly showed him my bloody palm, and he sucked in a breath. With his rough hands he reached out and gently pulled out the object that was sticking in my hand. He eyed it carefully for a moment, then threw the bloody thing away.

"Eraser tooth," he spat grimly, washing my hand off and binding it tightly with a strip of cloth. I got to my feet and turned back to the shocked flock.

"Keep on your toes, guys."

They all nodded, and I turned to Fang. "You're in charge. I'm going for food. Angel, want to come with me?"

She nodded, and then Fang called to my retreating back, "Get some bandages, will ya? Be careful."

I chuckled at that, shaking my head. "He's gonna be a good leader someday, won't he Angel?"

She looked anxiously up at me. "No."

I almost laughed out loud until she elaborated. "He won't have to be. You're our leader! Right, Max?"

I looked down at her pleading face and ruffled her hair. "Of course, baby. Come on, the wind's starting to pick up." We hurried to begin the long walk to town.

In the first department store Angel and I came to, I was looking at bandages when I heard a man talking to a woman close by. "We'd better hurry on home, dear, that windstorm could hit at any time."

I glanced at Angel quickly, and frightened blue eyes peered back up at me. I wordlessly pulled a few items off the shelf, and hurried to the checkout. Angel and I were just finishing stuffing the bandages into my backpack (that was all we had had time to get) when a huge wailing noise arose and the lights in the store began to flicker.

"The flock!"

I grabbed Angel's hand and ran out the door into the swirling sand and wind. I dashed headlong into the wind, even though it was getting increasingly harder to see and breathe. We finally reached the spot where I thought we had left the flock, but no one was there. I looked around frantically searching for any sign of life. Angel was crying and clinging to my leg so I scooped her up in my arms, calling desperately, "Fang! Iggy! Gazzy! Nudge!"

The only thing I could hear in response was Angel wailing and the wind howling. The scorching desert heat was multiplied by a thousand with the burning winds, and my hair was whipping around my face and stinging my eyes. I buried Angel's head in my neck to protect her from the swirling winds, staggering forward in a vain attempt to find my flock; my family.

As soon as Fang heard the wind starting to pick up, he wisely started getting the flock ready to go. He waited until they couldn't wait any longer, and then turned to the flock.

"Guys, we'll head into town to wait for Max and Angel."

Iggy and Nudge nodded and headed toward the town, heads down into the wind. Gazzy, being the smallest next to Angel, was having a hard time walking against the wind, so Fang subtly walked up in front of him to block the wind. He heard Gazzy sigh in relief, and hook his fingers through Fang's belt loop. Fang scanned the sandy wind one last time, looking for Max. Where is she?

I clasped my arms tightly around Angel, who had stopped crying and was limp in my arms. I didn't dare stop to check on her, though, I was afraid that if I stopped I could never start again. Still, I kept calling the names of my flock over and over like a prayer, though my throat was hoarse and raspy from sand.

"Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge…"

Fang dropped his backpack on the cement floor and turned to the flock. They had found an empty warehouse, and had forced the door. Fang looked at them, and they looked back at him. He racked his brain for what Max would do. "Check in. Iggy?"

"Fine."

"Gazzy?"

"Good."

"An-" Fang cut himself off hastily, remembering his mistake. He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Um, Nudge?"

"Yeah." Nudge choked out, trying not to cry. Gazzy looked dangerously close as well, and Iggy's pale face was set in stone.

"Max will be fine, guys." Fang said quietly. He hunted around until he found a piece of rope, tied it around his waist, and tossed the other end to Nudge.

"Tie this to something or hold onto it. Don't let it slip."

After she nodded, Fang slipped out the door into the howling winds to search for their leader.

I didn't know how long Angel and I had been out in the storm, but I realized that the winds were finally dying down. I had been staggering step after step, onward, looking for my missing family. My voice had eventually given out, and I could no longer feel my arms that were locked around Angel. Her blond head lolled against my shoulder, and I finally fell to my knees in exhaustion, the sand beginning to settle. I carefully set Angel down, and patted her cheeks gently. The most I could manage was a grating whisper.

"Angel, baby, wake up. Come on, honey, we need to get back."

I realized the truth in my statement as I looked around, we were in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed. Angel was still unconscious, so I picked her up again and looked around hopelessly. Which way to go?

Suddenly, I heard a grating voice behind me. "Max, Max, Max, has your flock finally left you?"

Yeah, I told you there would be another evil cliffie. There will probably only be one more chapter after this one... and it will have major fax. I love the next chapter - it's actually a whole heck of a lot better than the rest of this story.