A/N: Okay, you can beat me up for taking so long if you really feel like it. But in my defense, my base of opperation (the school) temporarily blocked this website so I had to upload it on my pathetically slow home computer. Anyway, the end is near! Only one chapter remains! Enjoy! And please make your lasts reviews worth it!
Nari Streeter
Chapter Seventeen: Times Up
Nickoli's eyes smarted as he tilted farther into the wind, tears welling up over his squinting eyes. The one problem with flying in New York was the pollution in the air. There was just so much. It was like flying through a sandstorm consisting of exhaust and smog. Yet…it seemed worse now. There was more of it than before.
He pulled up, his wings catching on a warm updraft and holding him there.
The sky was covered in a thin veil of black smoke. It twisted and swirled, hot against Nickoli's face. He extended his hand, catching a particle spiraling up to meet him. It fell apart in his hand…ash.
"Something wrong?" Max asked, appearing from the smoke just below him. She looked worried, her face slightly streaked with ash from the sudden storm.
Nickoli shook his head, "There's so much…where's it all coming from?"
Max shrugged, turning to glance back at Fang who was silently gliding on a hot breeze. She jerked her head into the smoke, "We're almost there anyway. AFO Schmidt is just over that last skyscraper, it'll take all of five minutes to reach it. Come on."
Nickoli leaned cautiously into the wind.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The smoke pressed in from all sides, black and hot, ashes dancing angrily into the sky. Higher and higher until the wind blew them apart and scattered over the building tops.
Nickoli landed hard, teetering just on the edge of the tallest skyscraper he could see. The tips of his sneaker peered over the edge as he leaned foreword, staring down at the long flat building below. His feather's bristled uncomfortably in the heat, sweat snaking down the back of his neck.
"Oh my God," Max breathed, landing lightly beside him.
The building was on fire.
Tongues of crimson flame leaped into the sky; smoke spiraling out of windows and open doorways. The roof was collapsed in one part, bowing down to the building floor, the edges warped and melted, scorched black by the heat.
Nickoli shook his head. The building didn't matter. All that mattered was Nari.
"Where's the toy store?" he asked, the hairs on the back of his neck rising.
Max glanced over at him, cocking an eyebrow, "Nickoli…that is the toy store."
Nickoli's stomach dropped. No way. No way. There was no way…
He snapped his wings open, feeling the ground give way as he tilted off the edge of the building, dread settling in his chest like a rock. Max slapped her arm open, catching him hard and slamming him back against the skyscraper's roof. Fang pressed his boot down on his ribs, holding him in place.
"What the hell!" Nickoli screamed, straining to push Fang's boot away.
"You're not fireproof!" Max snapped, "What are you planning on doing?"
Nickoli slammed his fists against Fang's leg, rocking back in an attempt to throw him off, "Something!" he shouted, "I have to do something!"
"We don't even know if she's down there," Fang growled, pressing harder.
"And I'm not waiting to find out!" Nickoli snarled, twisting around and slamming his palm against the side of Fang's knee. The pressure on his chest gave way and he rolled out from under him, dodging Max's arms in one fluid movement.
Without hesitation, Nickoli threw himself off the skyscraper.
He didn't bother opening his wings all the way, preferring instead to extend the tips out just long enough to guide his fall. The hole in the roof came up fast, smoke smothering him from all sides. Fire jumped foreword as he bolted through the hole, flames dancing over his wingtips as he pulled up, hitting the floor so hard the tile cracked under his feet.
The toy store was choked with smoke.
Plastic casings molded into the shelves, stuffing going up in flame like brushwood in the desert. The lighting fixtures above crackled, sparking blue stars jumping across fallen cables on the floor, taking root and spreading into smaller flames.
Nickoli raised his arm to shield his eyes, unfurling his wings to their fullest and beating back the fire as best he could.
"Nari!"
A section of the wall collapsed, strands of fire snaking down from the ceiling like streamers at a Christmas party. Nickoli stumbled away, holes appearing in his shirt where the ash settled to burn. His throat tightened as the smoke rushed into his lungs.
"Nari Streeter!"
The floor suddenly grew wet.
Nickoli slid, his knees cracking against the tile, the tender skin on his palm splitting and spilling blood.
Blood.
There was too much of it to come from his small cut.
Nickoli spun around, his heart pounding against his ears.
Nari's blank eyes stared back at him, her limp body sprawled awkwardly in the dark puddle. Her lips were cracked and swollen, spread slightly apart as if she was about to say something, a single line of red cut across her otherwise white-flushed face.
She wasn't moving.
Wasn't breathing.
Nickoli slid closer to her, shutting out the fire. Nothing else mattered.
"Nari?" he brushed his hand across her face, pulling her into his lap, "Nari? Can you…no, no, no. Nari!"
Fang was suddenly there, his black wings flaring against the inferno. He fastened his iron grip around Nickoli's upper arm, "Come on! We've got to get out of here!"
Nickoli shook his head, sliding farther down into the puddle, "I'm not leaving her."
Fang hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder at the spreading fire.
"Fine," he growled, falling to his knees and gathering Nari up in his arms, her head lolled back.
"It's a standing take-off from the floor," Nickoli shouted over the roar of the fire, "she's too heavy. You'll never make it."
"Go," Fang said curtly, jerking his chin to the hole in the ceiling, "I'm fine."
Nickoli shut his eyes, gritting his teeth as hard as he could and jumped.
Fang rose behind him, his dark wings slamming laboriously against the air.
Nickoli spun away from the building, his lungs screaming as he cleared the smoke cloud. He twisted around in the air, scanning the debris below, sweat pricking under his scalp. Dammit. They weren't going to make it.
Fang shot up from below the smoke, Nari swinging limply from his grip. Nickoli spiraled down to meet him, sliding his arms around Nari's waist and letting her fall back on his shoulder, taking on her full weight. Fang hung around for a second to see if Nickoli could handle her and then nodded to the skyscraper.
The gravel on the roof crunched as Nickoli landed, stumbling slightly as Nari slid off his shoulder. He lowered her gently to the ground, his hands shaking as her blood spread across his arms, glinting in the faint light of the fire.
The air stirred as Fang landed next to him cautiously, waving to Max who was standing on the other side of the roof. She sprinted over to meet them, the rage in her face fading to horror as she slid to a stop.
"She's not breathing," Nickoli whispered, his breath coming in short quick gasps, "Max…why isn't she breathing? Help me!"
Max carefully lifted the edge of Nari's shirt, grimacing as the shredded fabric fell back to reveal the jagged hole under her ribs. Max closed her eyes, as if waiting for someone else to tell her what to do. She shook her head, "I can't handle this. She needs a doctor."
"What doctor!" Nickoli screamed, biting back the stone working its way up his throat, "What doctor would take her! There's no one!"
He shoved her away, wrapping his arms around Nari's limp shoulders, "You're supposed to know what to do!" he shouted, tears spilling down his cheeks, panic fueling his words, "You're supposed to be the great Maximum Ride! What the hell am I supposed to do!"
Max didn't say anything, shock fluttering behind her eyes.
She glanced at Fang, nodded once, and placed her hand softly on Nickoli's shaking shoulder, "I know," she whispered, "I know where to take her."
Nickoli dug his fingernails into his arm, feeling a faint heartbeat against his chest as he pressed Nari closer.
"I know who can save her."