Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I'm not JP.
I recounted.
There were still only six bird mutants, plus me. Gazzy, Fang, Angel, Nudge, Iggy, and my mother. Ella. Ella was gone. I didn't have a clue where she was. But, being the leader that I was, I had to act calm and collected even if I was screaming on the inside.
"Hey, uh, guys," I asked calmly, "Does anyone know where Ella is?" Everyone looked around as if they didn't believe she was gone. No one said anything as we all entered our various levels of stress. My mother, of course, went into her no-nonsense mode.
"Seriously, does anyone know where she went?" she asked. "Did she say anything like, 'I'll be right back…or I'll catch up later''?" The flock looked at Dr. Martinez and shook their heads. It was a bit weird having an adult trying to handle our little mishaps like this that seemed to occur daily.
"Um, we should probably look around for her before she gets too far, wherever she is," I said. I was eager to get on our way so that the voice wouldn't have a chance to bother me.
The flock nodded in agreement and we began our search. Fang and I scanned the area with our eyes while flying. Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel searched the surrounding forest on the ground. And Iggy used his super hearing to see if he could hear her while we all called out her name.
And then there was my mother-my beloved mother who I wouldn't trade for anyone else. She was a bit stressed, to say the least. But, she was trying to help. She assisted the younger kids on the ground.
After a few hours, I was starting to feel a little helpless. Fang and I had been in the air the whole time and I'm sure the rest of the flock was getting a bit tired too. I mean, there wasn't much else we could do. I wanted to find Ella just as much as my mother did, but we really needed to get back on track. Plus, it was getting dark already. I looked over at Fang and he nodded. He had become a little restless too. We landed near the rest of the search party. We were in a small clearing enclosed by tall trees so it was even darker down on the ground.
When the flock saw us land, they stopped searching and we all stood in a circle. My mother's eyes made her look like she had been crying all day. She probably had been.
"I think it's time we called it a day you guys. Let's find some food and get some rest," I said. Everyone looked a relieved except for my mother. She started to talk but I cut her off. I know, surprising, right? Since when did I ever have manners?
"We're not giving up yet, we're just gonna have a little break," I told her.
My mom took the younger kids into town to bring back food while Fang, Iggy, and I set up camp. Iggy and Fang made a fire and I set up the few belongings that we had. This didn't take long so were finished pretty quick. The three of us sat on the cold, forest floor and discussed what we we're going to do.
"What if we never find her?" Iggy asked. You could hear a bit of sadness in his voice.
"I hate to say this, but I really don't know. I mean, what are we supposed to do?" I asked them. I had meant it as a rhetorical question, but of course, Iggy had to be a smart-allic.
"Well, you're the leader. You are the Maximum Ride. How come you don't have an answer, huh?" I shot him a look, but as usual, it was wasted on him.
"I think we should look for her some more till about midday, but broaden our area so we'll cover more ground. Then, I guess we should take off.," I said. I hate giving up, but I'm really unsure on what to do. When Angel had been kidnapped, it seemed like I instantly had had a plan, but everything was so much more complicated now.
Fang finally spoke up. "Sounds good," he said. Would it really kill him to say more than one or two words?
Iggy sighed."Whatever…," he said then suddenly stood up. "Why are you giving up so quickly?!" he demanded.
"Ig, you know that I'm doing the best I can I just-," I started but was cut off by Iggy.
"Shh," he said, "They're back." Heaven forbid, the flock sees that we don't have it under control for one second.I couldn't believe he was doing this. Yeah, this was just what I needed-Iggy angry at me for something I couldn't help.
A/N: Okay…maybe a bit OOC, but I wanted Iggy to be included in the decisions that Max and Fang always make. Because he never is. And of course, please review so I can make this story better, because I really don't think it's going too well.