Capri's Note: Thank you again for all the reviews, but come on! Less than 10 reviews after how often I've been posting? Show a little love, people! Enjoy and PLEASE review!

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Chapter Four

Max ran until she couldn't run anymore. She veered into the nearest alley and braced herself against the wall. Fang leaned against the wall next to her, not breathing nearly as heavy. Max looked up at him through her sweating brow, stiffened up and popped him in the jaw. He staggered back, merely out of surprise rather than injury.

"What the hell?" he rubbed his jaw, scowling.

She popped him again. She was about to make the third time anything but charming, but she answered her ringing cell phone instead.

"What?" she said angrily into the receiver.

"Hello to you too," Iggy said sarcastically. "It always makes me feel special when you answer the phone like that."

"Shut up and get to the point, Ig."

"You're usually not this tense after working at the mortuary. Everything okay?"

"No, Iggy I am not okay," Max snapped. "If you were where I just was and who I'm with now, you wouldn't be too happy either."

Fang stole a quick glance at her and saw fury in her eyes he'd never witnessed before.

"What happened?" Iggy asked, getting a little nervous. "Who's there?"

"I'll tell you when we get to the house."

"No," Fang cut in. "We can't go back there. We just barely made it out of the library, where do you think they're going to go next?"

"Who the hell is that?"

Max ignored him and kept her gaze on Fang. "How much time do you think we have?"

"It won't be an hour after dark before they're burning that place to the ground. We have to get them out of there. Now."

"Iggy, get everything packed together. Clothes, food, only the things we need."

"Max, what's going on?"

"I can't explain right now, Iggy. Just pack everyone up. I'll pack when I get there. If something happens, you call me right away and get the hell out of there."

She flicked the phone shut and rubbed her hand over her face. She was on the run…again. She tried her hardest not to look at Fang as she stalked past him, half angry and half pained.

"Are you hurt?" Fang asked, looking at her sideways.

"Shut up," Max glared at him. "What the hell do you care if I'm hurt?"

He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked. He knew it was pointless to try and make conversation. He probably wouldn't have that right with her for a while. When they neared the house, Fang stopped and looked around. He took a step closer to Max.

"What?" Max asked, growing a bit nervous.

"Nothing," he dismissed, taking another protective step closer to Max. "Just hurry. We don't have much time."

She quickened her pace, Fang not missing a step right beside her. She took to the stairs two at a time and stopped at the front door.

"I'm already packing your things," he said, barging in the house, not even having to ask where her room was.

Luckily, the flock was in the living room talking in confusion about their leader's plan to pack up and leave, so they didn't see Fang retreat to Max's room to pack up her things.

"Listen up," Max sighed, grabbing their attention. "With what I'm about to say, you will be pissed and angry. I love the life we've built here, with all my heart, but I love you all more and because I love you, we have to leave."

"What?" Iggy asked, baffled. He stood and walked in her direction. "What do you mean leave?"

"Leave as in go on the run again, Iggy, that's what I mean." Max ran her hands over her face, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Look, I was just attacked by people I have never seen before, people stronger and bigger than Erasers could ever be. I couldn't even fight them off. I don't know where these guys came from or who they are, but if we're going to find that out, we need to leave."

"You mean just leave? Just like that? All of our friends, our home, our lives? We just leave?" Nudge's eyes were huge.

"How do we get the answers if we don't even know where they came from?" Iggy asked, crossing his arms.

"Because," Max swallowed. "I know who has the answers."

"Who?" Gazzy asked, sitting beside a stoic Angel.

As if on cue, Fang walked in, dropped Max's packed back and leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over his muscular chest. Nudge gasped. Gazzy sucked in a breath and Angel just stared at him. Iggy, though he wasn't able to see his old friend, knew who it was and fury masked his features.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Iggy hissed, getting right up in Max's face.

"You think I know?" Max hissed right back. "All I know is that he just saved my ass at the library and he knows who these people are and where they came from."

Iggy stabbed a finger in her face. "You better know what you're doing."

She slapped his hand away and moved past him towards Fang. "When do we leave?"

Fang shrugged. "My best guess is right after dark. It'll give us a big enough window to get as far away from here as possible."

"Us?" Iggy whirled on his old friend. "What makes you think that you're coming with us?"

"Because I know what these guys are thinking and you don't stand a chance without my help. You wouldn't last two seconds against these guys and that's a fact, not an insult."

Iggy opened his mouth to argue, but Max cut him off.

"We don't have time to freakin' argue about this!" she was nearly shouting. "Iggy, if we don't go we could die. All of us. We have to go. End of story."

Iggy grabbed Max fiercely by the arm and yanked her into the kitchen. Fang watched them leave, a tiny spark of rage sparking when he saw the way Iggy grabbed Max. He looked away, shaking his head and glanced to the three flock members who were on the floor staring up at him. Angel seemed to be concentrating and he knew she was trying to read his thoughts. It was a pointless attempt, but he encouraged her to try as hard as she could.

Nudge, awestruck, didn't know whether to be angry or cry. So she improvised. She jumped to her feet and threw herself around his waist, crying into his shirt. He stiffened up like a board, not sure of what to do, so he just stood there and let her hug and cry on him. It didn't make him the least bit uncomfortable. It was better than the greeting he got from Max. His jaw was going to be sore for days.

Gazzy had tears welling at the corners of his eyes and he was afraid to do what Nudge was doing in fear of looking stupid and unmanly, but he did it anyway. Angel was the one who remained on the floor, silent, still staring at Fang. She hadn't said a word since she learned who had written the note to Max.

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In the kitchen, Iggy had to make sure to stay away from all the sharp objects so he wouldn't kill Fang right on the spot. He whirled angrily to get right in Max's face.

"What the hell is going on, Max?" He demanded. "We can't leave. The flock loves it here. I love it here. You love it here. And what about Rae, huh? What the hell am I supposed to tell her?"

"The truth!" Max shot back, not bothering to keep her voice down. "That it's not safe here anymore! I almost died back there, Iggy! If Fang hadn't—"

"Yeah, and what about Fang?" Iggy snapped. "He's been gone for four years, without so much as a postcard and all of a sudden he shows up and you're just going to believe every word that comes out of his betraying mouth? Where's your loyalty?"

"My loyalty is to this flock and if we stay here and something happens to you guys, that's all on me. If we stay, we die. I was nearly just killed. I could barely take one of them Iggy and after Fang had showed up and saved my ass, there were at least twenty. It doesn't matter how strong we are. We can't take them."

"You don't even know what the hell they are!"

"No, that's right, I don't!" Max shoved him out of her face. "He does, Iggy. Fang knows why they're here and why the hell they just tried to kill me. He took down six of them on his own, Ig. Six. He knows how to fight these guys and how to stay alive. He's got the answers that we need."

"What the hell am I supposed to tell Rae?" Iggy's tone wasn't calm, but it was now nervous and unsteady. "She can't fly, Max! She can't come with us!"

"I know that Iggy!" Max yelled. "I know she can't come with us! I know none of our friends can come with us! If they do, they die. It sucks, but that's the way it has to be."

"So we just pack up out of the blue because Fang tells us to?" Iggy dropped his hands to his sides, his anger turning into despair.

"No, we pack up and leave because I'm telling you to. Honestly Iggy, even if Fang hadn't showed up when he did how long do you think it would've been before we packed up and left anyways? A day, maybe two? We can't stay here Iggy. As much as I hate it, we're running again and this time we don't know who it's from."

"I can't leave Rae, Max," Iggy swallowed hard. "What about Rae?"

"I don't know, Iggy." Max rubbed her temples. "But you need to tell her before it gets too late."

"You're unbelievable, Max." Iggy sneered and rushed out of the kitchen. He slammed his bedroom door, making her jump.

She could feel an oncoming headache and groaned. Fang came in a few minutes later, tear stains blotting his dark gray shirt. He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the counter next to her.

"We don't have a lot of time, Max," he said quietly.

"Thank you for that information," she shot back, glaring at him. "However I already know that."

Her little outburst didn't faze him a bit. "We can't fly."

"What?" Max was taken aback by that. "What do you mean we can't fly?"

"If they sense any bit of wing action from anything bigger than an eagle, we'll all be dead before we can flap twice."

"Then what do you suppose we do?"

"Drive," he shrugged. "I've got a two-seater truck parked a few miles away, but we'll probably need another car."

"Well take a look around, because we don't have another car." She didn't care that she was being rude. He deserved far worse. "I can't believe this is happening again."

She looked to Fang, but he was staring out at the kitchen window, tattered wings twitching. She immediately grew tense and edged a little closer. He was staring out the window, his fingers gripping the counter so hard she thought it might crack.

"Fang—"

"Shh," he walked over to her and pulled her down out of view of the kitchen windows. "Where's Rae's house?"

"About three miles from here," Max whispered back. "Would they know to go there?"

"How often do you go there?"

She wasn't sure why that mattered, but answered anyway. "We go over there every once and a while."

"No, Max, not the flock. You. How often do you go there?"

She furrowed her brow. "I haven't been there in months."

"You think Iggy would mind if we barged in on his girlfriend?" he didn't wait for an answer, just grabbed her arm gently and pulled her out of the kitchen.