ooooh look we're almost in the twenties!!!! yayyy!!!!
wow. i think this is the shortest authors note i've ever written!
sad, i know...
Chapter nynetein:
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Okay, call me heartless, but I honestly couldn't help myself. Give me some credit, though—I tried. I really did. But despite the fact that my
family was being held captive by savage DNA-recombinant varmints, my mission was pretty much blown, and afore-mentioned varmints were
probably taking us to a horrible, sickly twisted place, I laughed out loud.
But wouldn't you? I mean, seriously. "We meet again"? Could there be a lamer one-liner?
"Th—that's the best—you could—come up—with?" I snorted with laughter.
The Erasers looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do next. The one who seemed to be in charge stepped forward.
"Maximum Ride."
I wiped my eyes. "Whew, that's rich."
The Eraser growled. "Come quietly and we will not harm your family."
Okay. Now that was not funny. I replied in a dangerous tone. "You're not harming my family whether I come with you or not." I backed up slowly until
I felt Iggy, then tapped his hand once, meaning, we're so out of here on three.
The Eraser looked confused. "So…you're coming?" One.
I pretended to contemplate this possibility. "Well…Hmmm. Let me think…" Two.
Another Eraser finally realized what was happening. "It's a set-up!" He yelled, but by then, it was too late. Three.
I whirled into action, launching a series of kicks at Nudge's captor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Iggy doing the same to Gazzy's. With a final
shoulder-chop, the Eraser I was fighting fell to the ground with a loud "oomph."
I put my foot on his back and leaned down, smiling sweetly. "You know what? After weighing the pros and cons, I've finally decided. I'm not gonna
be going with you guys after all. But thanks for the offer!"
"Max!" I heard Angel exclaim, and wheeled myself around, just fast enough to avoid a punch thrown by one of the back-up Erasers. I used my
momentum to slide down and kick his legs out from under him, then flung a powerful kick at his neck. Groaning, he collapsed on the ground.
I surveyed the little battle scene. Fang was taking out four Erasers at a time, Angel was mind-controlling two of them to start fighting each
other, Gazzy was holding his own with one, and Nudge was helping Iggy with a couple. I tried to calculate how many Erasers were left.
Ten, twenty, thirty…
A blow to the side of my head brought me out of my thoughts. Wincing, I spun around to find a group of about twenty Erasers behind me.
"Forget to count us?" One snarled, cracking his knuckles loudly, and beckoning me towards him.
I growled and launched myself at him, fighting as hard as I ever had. The odd thing was, I kept trying to mow down a couple at a time,
but more seemed to keep cropping up every time I thought I was almost done.
I launched a scissor-kick at one, but suddenly felt hairy paws grab my shoulders from behind and shake me violently.
"That's enough, Maximum." That voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I tried to get a glimpse of its face, but it held me tightly.
"Can't handle the heat?" I shot back, knowing I sounded ridiculous. I was the one who was being contained, not them. I was attempting
to karate-chop his pressure point, failing miserably, when I saw Total. I had forgotten all about him while I was fighting. He was darting
nervously around trees, trying to stay hidden, while nipping at Erasers' heels viciously. Or as vicious as a Scottie mutt can get. Well, I'll give
him an A for effort.
I saw Gazzy whip a TV remote connected to a ton of wires out of his shirt, press a button, and throw at a group of Erasers, and I remembered
that the hollow tree I had hidden Iggy's bombs in was dangerously close to this little posse. If I could get them to accidentally stumble on the
bombs, blow up, and sort of shelter me at the same time, that would pretty much solve my problem. I tried to squirm in the direction of the tree, but
found it impossible to weave in the Eraser's grasp. Okay, stupid idea. The bombs were useless.
While I observed Total's battle tactics and realized my resounding defeat, the Eraser held me in place, absorbing all my struggling, kicks, and
punches as if I were poking him with a straw. The others tied me up and turned me around to face the rest of the flock—including Total—who
were in captivity also.
Well, darn.
The Eraser holding me from behind growled, "You will come with us, whether you like it or not."
I sighed, defeated. There was no point in struggling. There were too many of them. I looked at the faces of my flock, all dejected and
scared, but they all nodded at me. My little troopers. Fang caught my eye and gave me a grim look. I blew out a long breath. "Yeah, we'll come."
The Erasers looked at each other in surprise, then, realizing that this wasn't a ruse or a joke, hooted in triumph. (Was this new? Since when do Erasers hoot?)
The one holding me finally released his grip, and tossed me to another Eraser standing close by. He signaled to another, who in turn spoke
rapidly into an earpiece. Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed throughout the little glen we were in. I could feel it pulsing gin my stomach.
The younger kids winced at the noise level. It sounded like a helicopter was about to land on our heads. As we watched, a big truck, even bigger
than a cement mixer, roared through the trees, tearing down everything in its way.
It came to a lurching stop in front of us and Erasers began filing in through a side door. I started scanning the huge truck for anything useful.
On the side facing us, there was a huge emblem, an eagle, portrayed in black and white, with a red diamond on its wing. That definitely wasn't Itex's logo.
I looked instinctively to Fang, who was staring at me as well. A knowing look passed between us. So there was another evil, blood-sucking company out to
kill us. This was certainly a new development.
We were tossed into the back of the truck; a tiny, dark, damp compartment that smelled like it could have used a couple scented candles.
Urine and body odor filled the air. Luckily, they hadn't put strips of duct tape over our lips to shut us up, so we could still talk amongst
ourselves.
Unfortunately though, it also meant the rank odor was now entering our mouths. Like, ewww.
"Max?" Iggy's voice sounded weak and far away.
"Yeah?" My claustrophobia was starting to take over, and a cold sweat broke out on my neck. Just breathe, Max, just bre—eww, don't breathe, never mind, breathe through
your sweatshirt, that's right, come on, breathe…
Iggy cleared his throat. "Umm, now would probably be a good time to tell me where my bombs are."
Umm…oops?
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okay so i wanted to thank EVERY ONE who reviewed!!!! which was like about 7 of you, but thats okay.
i still kind of stalled, so you have another chance--if you hadn't reviewed yet-- to go back to the last chapter (ch. 18) and answer the little questions i have there. so no one knows whether the eraser holding her is sam, we haven't decided who is special with max yet, don't know anything about jeb, ditto with brigid. so this was sort of a filler to WAIT for you guys to give me ideas!
i'm not going to update till i get 10 reviews. i want to give every body a chance to put their ideas in.
and yes, i know more people exist!!! i can see the stats page!!! i know theres more of you readers who don't review!!
pleeeease don't be shy! all you have to do is answer the questions in our own opinion!! IS THAT SO HARD?!?!?!
okay. i'm done.
sorry.
:D
i really do love you guys.
later, taters!
.,.memrylaine.,.