Chapter Seven

I was sure I looked like a crazy person to all of the other shoppers in the store. I would sprint down an aisle, skid to a halt as I noticed people with carts going by, waiting until they moved on, then go off again. It took a couple of minutes to find the others. Nudge and Iggy were in an aisle arguing about which jelly they should get when I ran up.

"Where's Gasman?" I panted.

"The dairy section," Nudge replied.

"You two go to the front of the store and wait for us. Leave the food. Whistle or yell if anything happens."

"What's wrong?" Iggy asked, sensing my tension. Of course, it probably wasn't that hard.

"Just go!" I ordered as I took off again.

The dairy section was near the back of the store. I nearly ran into a half-full cart a mother was pushing by. I said a rushed excuse me and made it to Gasman, he was looking through the variety of cheeses when I grabbed his arm. Before I even said anything, he dropped the cheese he was holding to follow me.

"Jeez, I know cheese doesn't help me live to my name, but it's not that bad," he attempted to joke as we ran down the aisles.

We ran back to the front of the store. As Iggy and Nudge came into view, my heart sank. Angel was with them, gesturing wildly about something. Nudge and Iggy shook their heads rapidly. Nudge pointed to me as Gazzy and I stopped beside them. Tears immediately flooded Angel's blue eyes.

"Where's Fang?" I asked, looking at her. "Angel, where's Fang?"

"I should have checked," she said, putting a hand unconsciously in her hair. "I knew I should have checked."

"Checked what?"

"Max II is back, Max. I thought she was you. She said she left the key with the others and wanted me to come and finish the shopping. She wanted to be with Fang. I'm so sorry."

Before the others could even really react, I rushed out of the store. I was half-way across the street when a small band of Erasers appeared out of thin air in front of the hotel doors. I screamed in anger and launched myself at them. I didn't really think that through, though. 10 of them were on top of me. I punched and kicked everything I could reach, but they seemed to be merely crushing my smaller body. I thought I was starting to suffocate, still kicking and punching as much as I could.. I had to get to Fang . . .

Soon, Eraser bodies were being thrown aside. Nudge, Iggy, Gasman, and Angel were already starting to beat up various Erasers. Gasman threw an Eraser over his shoulder and spent him flying across the street, which surprised me because I never saw him do anything like it before. Iggy did a really impressive round-house kick to one's jaw, dropping to the ground and taking out the feet of another that was coming at him from behind. Nudge was simply stepping out of the way as Erasers ran at her, ducking occasionally. She clothes-lined one, watching him drop to the ground with a smirk. Then, she swung and took out another that was coming her direction. Angel was obviously trying to control their minds, but she made a frustrated face when it wasn't working. So she simply jumped in the air and kicked one across the face. It kind of shocked me. Angel was never that violent. That was usually the rest of us . . .

"They have mental blocks," I shouted to Angel as I threw a knee into an Eraser's stomach and then punched his face. "It won't work. Iggy, they're pretty quiet when they want to be, so listen carefully. They're faster and stronger than before, so be ready!"

It seemed like I didn't even have to tell them that. They kept fighting, taking more and more out around them. I ducked down as one came at me. I kicked and took out the backs of his knees. He dropped to the ground, his head striking the pavement hard. I heard a movement behind me and watched as Gazzy tackled down an Eraser that was about to claw my back. He started punching it mercilessly.

"Go up to the room and get Fang!" he barked. "We can take care of them!"

"Don't argue, go!" Iggy shouted as he was fighting two Erasers.

Reluctantly, I went through the doors and ran through the lobby. The desk clerk was on the phone, probably talking to the police or something. They had never really attacked us in such a public place. We were definitely causing a commotion. I took the stairs three at a time and stumbled when I reached the top and found the key card for our room.

I scanned it and kicked the door in. Max II was half-sitting on Fang, digging her boot into Fang's broken wing, grinding against the broken bones. I screamed and threw myself at him, careful to avoid hitting Fang's now limp body.

"You BITCH!" I screamed, punching at her face, my vision literally going red.

Apparently, Fang had given her a good beating himself before she used his weak point. I was thinking I broke her nose as it started bleeding worse than it did before. She punched me across the mouth. I tasted blood, but I shoved her down to the ground, her head thunking as it hit the floor. She hissed and went to hit me again. I grabbed her arms and held her down.

She laughed, her teeth red from her own blood. "Wow, Max, I never knew he was that important to you. He did the same thing. Oh, freak love. It's a beautiful thing."

"Shut . . . the . . . hell . . . UP!!" I punched her as each word came out of my mouth.

I then put my hands around her throat and squeezed. For some reason, I felt tears come to my eyes as Max II blacked out. I let go of her and sat staring at her for a minute or two, my tears running down my face. I moved away after I was sure that she wouldn't be getting up. I moved over to Fang and started crying even harder. I touched his face lightly, new cuts and bruises already forming over his older ones that hadn't healed yet. His wing was starting to bleed again, I think I saw the small cream-white of a bone prodding through his jet-black feathers. I moved the bone carefully to hide it underneath some feathers.

"Max."

I looked up to see the rest of my flock standing outside the door, looking at the scene around them. Max II was sprawled out on the floor beside the far bed, knocked out and bleeding. I was bleeding and crying. Fang was on the floor beside the other bed, his wing more mangled than ever, his face blank, his nose bleeding and other cuts oozing from his face.

They were all in one piece, which was reassuring. Gasman had a swollen eye and some cuts on his arms. Nudge was mostly scuffed up. Angel had a bruised cheek and a thin line of blood was running down her cheek from a lone cut. Iggy was probably the worst out of all of them. He had multiple bruises and cuts on his face, both eyes swelling, and his arms were scraped up.

"You guys okay?" I asked.

They all nodded. "All of them are taken care of," Gasman said. "What happened?"

"Max II . . . she was . . ." I stopped, unsure if I should tell them.

"We aren't kids anymore, Max," Nudge said. "Tell us what happened."

I nodded and slowly explained everything. "She . . . dug her foot into his wing. Twisted it in and everything. I think she broke more bones. He's blacked out for now."

"Poor Fang," Angel sighed. She knelt down beside me and focused on Fang for a moment. "He said everything's okay now. He doesn't really feel anything when he blacks out. He said he has some things to tell you."

"Tell him he can save it for now. Iggy, you okay to fly with him?"

"Always," Iggy answered instantly.

"All right, guys, let's go."

Iggy, Gasman, and I all picked Fang up and carefully carried him down the stairs. I was shocked to see the bodies of almost 25 Erasers spread out in front of the hotel, some of them twitching slightly, but all of them out cold. I looked to my flock, the ones that had grown from those scared little kids forced into cages. Even Angel, who was with us when she was a mere baby. All of them were standing, cut and beat up, but stronger than ever. Nudge was right. They weren't kids anymore.

Figuring there was no need to really attempt to be discreet, I called an up and away and we all went up into the air in front of the hotel. Fang's head was hanging limp, his chin on his chest. I sniffed, forcing my tears away. I looked to the others, who were flying in formation around me.

"Okay, guys, we'll go as far as we can now, okay?" I said.

"We'll make it," Iggy answered. The others nodded with serious expressions. "We can make it in one go."

"Guys . . ."

"You know, you should really learn to stop arguing with us," Nudge sighed, rolling her eyes. "You aren't the only one with wings or something."

I laughed despite myself. Since when had they decided to act against me? Of course, with all of them being older, our decisions were made together, at least they should be. That could take some getting used to . . .

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Two days later, despite having only a little bit of food or water, the familiar land around my mother's house came into view. I sighed with relief and turned to look at the others. Gasman was actually carrying her sister, who was obviously worn out. Nudge flew slowly beside Iggy, who was struggling not to show his struggles keeping a hold of Fang. I was feeling on the verge of fainting, but seeing the one place I would love to call home cheered me up immensely.

"We're almost there, guys," I announced. "You all did an amazing job. Thanks for your help, Iggy."

He nodded, smiling weakly. "All of us would do the same for you. We're a family, remember?"

I leaned near Fang's ear. "We're almost there, I promise you'll be okay, Fang. I'm so sorry for all of this."

He looked so young without that usual dark scowl on his face. He hadn't woken up since we took off, not even to mutter incoherently and pass out again like the last time. Angel kept prodding his mind, telling him to stay with us. She said he told her he wanted to, but the pain was too much when he was awake. He just had to sleep for now.

Iggy and I landed heavily in the backyard of the Martinez's, both of us practically collapsing next to Fang. Iggy dropped down to his knees and started coughing forcefully. Nudge put an arm around his shoulder as Gasman landed with an awake, but still drowsy Angel. I stumbled over to the house and hit the back door with an open hand.

The door swung open instantly and my mother stood in front of me in the doorway. Her face lit up at the sight of me (which I was sure wasn't very pretty). She looked past me to the rest of the flock, Iggy on the ground beside unconscious Fang with Nudge leaning against and Gasman laying on the ground, trying to catch his breath with Angel sitting with her legs sprawled out beside him.

"Oh my God," she said quietly.

"Worse than usual, huh?" I asked with a weak smile. "Just take of Fang. The rest of us will be all right. Just help him."

She nodded and walked by me quickly. I walked back down the three steps slowly. My mother was already at Fang's side, inspecting his wing with a serious face. She looked over at me as I walked up and sank to the ground beside Iggy. She shook her head and looked back to Fang, tears coming to her eyes.

"Oh, Fang," she whispered. Her eyes looked back in my direction. "What happened to you?"

I knew she was directing the question to all of us. I wanted to answer, but sitting down felt so nice. I was so worried about Fang, but I now found it hard to keep my eyes open. I slumped to the side, leaning against Iggy. He fell back with my weight, so both of us dropped to lay out on the lawn. Wow, I was fainting . . . My vision blurred and then went black. I was sure I heard more movement around me and I was maybe even being picked up, but I was too tired to focus.

It's okay, Max, Jeb's voice said in my head. Everythingwill be okay.

Yeah, right.