"Ig, I gotta go, it's now or never," Fang whispered to Iggy as the two sat huddled under a tree. The rest of the flock sat around a fire staring at the unconscious Maximum ride carefully placed on a pile of sweatshirts curled up on the ground. After fleeing from the school, the flock flew for hours, it was nearly night, until they found a seemingly safe clearing in the woods to camp for the night. Fang had flown the whole way with Max in his arms, refusing to let Iggy help. This was the first time Fang had spoken or left Max's side. He forced himself out of the dark whole he was in, he forced himself to figure this out, to save her – there had to be a way. And he had a plan.
"Fang you can barely walk as it is, how do you expect to get back in there? And what happens if she wakes up while you're gone and is different like you say?" Iggy knew this was a bad idea.
"We left that place in turmoil, if there was ever a time to go, it's now. They'll never expect one of us to come back right after we got out; they know we hate the place. I'll get in there search through the labs – there has got to be something. There's no way Jeb would inject her with something without an anecdote. She's his precious experiment, if anything went wrong he would need a way to counteract it." Fang was sure this was the only chance he would have.
"Fang, you'll die trying-" Iggy started, trying to persuade him. But he was quickly cut off by a very stern Fang,
"This is not an argument, I'm going. Tell the flock the truth, they should know." Fang demanded as he strode toward a smaller clearing and stretched out his beautiful onyx wings, looking up at the newly night sky.
"If you don't come back I'll kick your ass and steal your girl!" Iggy called after him. Fang turned around and called back,
"You'll die trying!" And with that he was up and away – gone in an instant. Iggy turned around and headed back to the flock as the newly appointed leader, praying this position wouldn't be permanent.
"Max…?"
"C'mon Max wake up…" I heard a soft airy voice.
"Angel!" someone yelled in a soft yet harsh whisper, "You know what Fang said. We have to let her sleep as long as possible. Fang said he should be here when she wakes up."
"He only said that because he's afraid of what she'll do, he thinks it's not the same Max." Angel responded to Iggy. "I don't believe him" she added in.
"I'm sorry Angel, we all want Max to wake up and be Max, but I trust Fang. He knows her the best and he saw something in that lab – he saw something change. He wouldn't be on a suicide mission if he didn't." Iggy tried to make her feel better, but that last part only made her feel worse.
"But why did he have to go now? Why couldn't he wait for her to wake up first? Maybe she's fine, maybe she doesn't need any anecdote" she whispered.
Anecdote? I don't need any anecdote. I tried to open my eyes but they were so heavy. My body hurt and it was weak. I definitely had dozens of broken bones and a few gashes; I could feel the hardened dried blood. It hurt to think; my mind was exhausted. I stopped trying to open my eyes and decided it would be best for me to sleep a little while longer; I was weak – too weak. I knew the flock wouldn't hurt me, it was safe to sleep here. I quickly fell asleep barely able to finish that last thought.
The flock sat in silence around Max. Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel all shedding silent tears – tears for the battered and beaten body that lay in front of them, tears for a leader they loved that may never be the same, and lastly they cried tears for Fang who may never return.
Nudge refused to speak to Iggy after he informed the rest of the flock of what Fang had gone to do. How could he let a nearly unconscious Fang go back? She had wondered, It was suicide! But deep down she knew she probably would have done the same. The flock had flown for at least 4 hours after leaving the school before landing in this clearing. She had wondered why Fang would risk landing so soon, now she understood. He wanted to make sure that he still had time to go back, that his so-called 'window of opportunity' hadn't closed. She guessed that he probably wouldn't be back for nine hours, giving him eight hours of flying time. NINE HOURS – nine whole hours to sit and worry, and freak, and panic, nine hours of uncertainty. Another tear snuck out, rolling slowly onto her cheek, carving a path all the way down to her chin until finally coming to a rest clinging to her chin, threatening to fall. Nudge was sure the tear would drop onto the dry earth upon which she sat, but it didn't. It was wiped away by a strong white hand as Iggy came to sit by her side. He put his arm around her shoulder and she looked up to meet his eyes.
"Everything will be okay" he said. And for some reason she believed him.