Ok, just to start out, I'm soooooo sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up. I went on a family vacation, to a couple of birthday parties, and had a midnight sparkler party with leftover Fourth of July sparklers and homeade snow cones. Also, my family life has not been the most peacefull at the moment. So i've been kind of busy, and haven't been near the computer much. Sorry!

Also thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers. Review more! I've found out that i'm addicted to reviews. They're so much fun!

Ok, lets get to the story. But first:

Disclaimer

Me: I own Maximum Ride. In fact, I happen to be James Patterson.

Fang: ...

Max: Oh yeah? How about i beat the crap out of you for lying?

Me: Damnitt...can i at least own Fang?

Max: NO!

(Punches me)

Me: OUCH! Fine! I don't own Maximum Ride or any characters from the books except for my story's characters and my story's plot. (sniffle) No need to get physical!

That morning, we all woke up quickly and quietly. Maybe it was the buzz of adrenaline in everyone's bodies, or the realization that this Island could change our lives forever. No one, not even Nudge talked. Silently, we packed our personal belongings, sleeping bags and supplies into our hiker's backpacks and took stock of the situation.

To get to Australia, we would have to fly to the Florida peninsula, to Cuba and then to Jamaica. From Jamaica, we would fly across Honduras and El Salvador. From there, we would island hop our way west across the North Pacific until we reached Australia. It was maybe a four day flight. I was secretly kind of worried if the flock could fly that long without rest, especially the younger kids.

Angel looked at me from where she was sitting with Total and said, "Max, don't worry. It'll be fine, I promise."

Oddly enough, I felt comforted by that.

Whatever wouldn't fit in our bags, we would have to take turns flying with. Fang, being Mr. Macho, decided that he could carry the collapsible tent all the way to Australia. I snorted. That thing was heavy, believe me. I'd picked it up earlier and it must have easily weighed 70 pounds. Which is about the same as carrying Angel.

You know, they say chivalry is dead. Maybe that's because chivalrous men kill themselves trying to be chivalrous….ever thought of that?

After a hurried breakfast of burnt hotdogs, we gathered around the fire for a Flock Meeting.

"Okay guys, enough with the quiet." I said, speaking to them like a coach to his team.

"I don't want ya'll to be nervous about living on this island. I mean, it's not like we can get stuck there. If we get tired of it, we can just fly away. I have to say, I'm excited too. 'Cuz we're gonna have so much fun!! Starting today, we have our very own private island! So who's excited??"

"Me!" said my flock.

"Aw, come on! That was weak-assed! I SAID, WHO'S EXCITED??"

"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" they yelled, jumping up and down and generally getting pumped.

"Ok! Let's get this show on the road!" I yelled, shouldering my pack and jumping into the air. Within seconds they joined me.

"Very nice powwow, Coach." said Fang, smirking slightly.

"Yeah, I know! Go long!" I joked, throwing an imaginary football at him.

He flew to intercept the "football" and in the process, accidentally flew into Iggy.

"Very nice tackle!" I yelled. Nudge and Angel laughed hysterically.

And that pretty much set the tone for the flight. We laughed and joked the whole way, even though half of our jokes weren't very good. I guess you had to have been there to get most of them. Gazzy cracked up so hard at one joke, that he started to loose altitude! It was hilarious!

We stopped for lunch at around 1:00. The flock, Nudge especially, was starving with a capital S. They had been whining for food for the past half hour. Fang spotted a promising Chick-fil-a, and we started to descend. We flew into a small wooded area nearby, folded our wings, and pulled on oversize windbreakers.

The Chick-fil-a smelled like heaven. We got some raised eyebrows at the enormity of our orders, but no one said anything about it.

I learned from the lady at the counter that we were in Homestead, Florida, a small town near Miami on the tip of the Florida peninsula. That was good. Next stop: Cuba.

Lunch was wonderful. I ordered about six of those chicken biscuit-y things, large waffle fries, and a medium lemonade. Good stuff.

Fang and Iggy were able to scarf ten chicken biscuits, though. They're such pigs.

We took off a half an hour later, about ten pounds heavier from all of the food we'd ingested. I was vaguely surprised that we hadn't been attacked or kidnapped while we ate. Which was odd, because that seemed to be what happened a lot.

By midnight, we were over Cuba. We were all tired and starving, so I checked us into a hotel room at a skeezy motel and Fang went to get us some chow. Preferably lots of chow. Like a small boatload.

The next day, we woke up tired and smarting from our long flight. We flew all that day. We flew all the next day. There was nothing but ocean for most of the flight. Boring, repetitive, ocean. To save a bunch of boring description, we arrived in Brisbane, Australia, four days later. Basically, our arrival went like this:

Me: "Hmm. Is that land in the distance? We should be near Australia by now."

Gazzy: "Yes, Finally! Land! We won't die at sea after all!"

(I shoot him a look for being overly dramatic)

Iggy: "Where? Where? I don't see it."

Fang: "No surprise there."

Angel: "Max?"

Me: "Yes, sweetie?"

Angel: "I'm hungry"

Fang: "We'll get food there."

Notice who didn't talk? Wait a minute, it'll come to you.

If you guessed Nudge, ding ding ding, you're right!

We had duct-taped her mouth shut after two days of incessant chatter. It was surprising that we hadn't already gone insane from her talking so much. Really, there's only so much pointless discussion about cute shoes that I can take.

When we finally landed on Aussie soil, the entire flock was famished. We found some fast food place called Chooks. I have no idea what a chook is, but the place had good chicken…

The island was 5 hours from Brisbane, which meant that it was about two hours by air. When we finally arrived on Lady Musgrave Island, the flock was extremely tired. Angel was already asleep in Fang's arms, snoring softly. I knew that we couldn't stay on this island – it was a place where tourists came a lot. We needed to find a smaller island nearby.

Fang handed Angel to me. "Here, take her. I'll go find us an island. The kids can sleep."

He flew away leaving me to ponder how chatty he was getting lately. I mean, TWELVE words at one time?! Wow…

I leaned against the trunk of a palm tree and breathed in the fresh salt air. I could wait.

By the time he came back, the younger kids were all asleep. Only Iggy and I were awake, though Iggy looked so tired that he probably wanted to sleep for ten million years.

Fang landed silently, using his new power to blend in with the dark waves of the ocean. I didn't notice him until he was right beside me.

I tensed. "Jeez, Fang. Could you be any quieter? You scared the crap outta me. I thought you were some psycho eraser coming to kill me."

"Sorry", he said, grinning, not looking apologetic at all.

"So did you find us an island yet, Mr. Invisible?" I said, looking up at him.

"Yeah, wake the kids. And Iggy…" he said.

I laughed, looking at Iggy snoring.

"Wake up Ig" I said, kicking his back affectionately.

He groaned and opened his eyes blearily. "I'm up, I'm up" he said.

"We shouldn't wake the kids", I said "They need their sleep. I'll carry Nudge if you carry Gazzy. Fang can carry Angel."

"Ok." He said sleepily, picking up Gazzy's sleeping form.

We grabbed our packs, picked up the sleeping kids, and followed Fang into the air. He took us to an island about ten miles away, still near flying distance of the island, but out of the way of nosy tourists. It was small, but large enough for us. It was dark, and I was tired, so I didn't notice much else but that.

Fang, Iggy and I cleared a small area on the beach and laid out blankets. We put the kids into sleeping bags. They were still asleep. I laid down in my sleeping bag, worn out, and looked up at the sky. I fell asleep instantly, my head next to Fang's, and slept a dreamless sleep. That night, we slept under a curtain of stars on a quiet beach. It was probably the most peaceful my life has ever been.

Okay! Thanks for reading my story! I'd love it if you took 5 seconds to review. :)

I'll try to update soon. Love ya'll!