The Disbanded: Divided We Stand-Chapter 48

By MyNameIsCAL

---Fang's POV---

Everyone was in a different mood the next morning. Iggy was on the phone, probably with Ella, talking and smiling. Gazzy seemed to be annoyed, sitting by himself at the end of the table. Max sat next to me, her hand knotted in mine, thinking about how things were going to play out with Ramirez joining us, her grip tightening and loosening depending on her stress level. Cal looked like she was lecturing Ted, who sat there, listening patiently. There was Mike and Eli, joking as usual while Kerry and Chuck had their own conversation, laughing every now and then.

"Why don't you trust Ramirez?" I suddenly asked, not really thinking about what I was saying.

Max let out a sigh. "I don't know. I really should, but it's just paranoia. I'll get over it."

"You're not paranoid," I insisted. "I still think Itex might come out from under my bed and snatch me."

She elbowed me. "Oh, shut up."

I smiled. "Alright, I'm not that paranoid, but hey, we all are."

She rolled her eyes, but under that grimace was a growing smile.


---Gazzy's POV---

The snow has us stuck inside until a path was cleared to the main roads. The plows were stuck somewhere else on the other side of the airport. It was going to take a while to access them. I wasn't the only restless one though. Max paced the room, looking out the window every time she passed it. Fang sat watching her, his hand massaging his knee, the lines of pain on his forehead creasing more and more.

And then there was Iggy, talking away on the phone with Ella. He was going to break Nudge's heart. I was sure of it now. It made me feel terrible.

PAGE BREAK!!!

---Max's POV---

We crammed into the vans, ready to go to our next destination. I got the feeling we weren't going to find anything though. Probably just another empty warehouse. But we'd be kicking ourselves if we didn't look.

"How do we know this isn't a complete waste of time?" Fang reiterated my thoughts out loud.

I shook my head. "We don't know."

Fang put an arm around me, his head resting on top of mine.


---Iggy's POV---

There was nothing to find when we reached the location. Whatever was there before had been demolished, no evidence of what had been there before. Snow was starting to fall again. I stood outside the van, waiting for Max and Ted to finish surveying the area. It always seemed quieter when there was snow falling. Peaceful, almost.

With nothing to do, we filed back into the vans. No one spoke. We all knew a lot of disappoint lay ahead. Life had been tough on us for a long time. There was no reason for it to suddenly let up and lead us to Nudge and Angel quickly. And while we all knew we'd be going to places and not finding anything, all of us were certain we were going to find Angel and Nudge, even if it meant going to every single state in the whole damned US.

Although I got the sense Gazzy was frustrated. He had been able to follow Angel and Nudge for so long and then he lost them. The poor kid couldn't decide if he wanted to be mad at himself or mad at us. The world, for him, was spinning too fast. Solid ground for him had been pulled away for too long. He wouldn't rest until we found Angel and Nudge and made sure they were safe.

"Do you think they're angry at me?" he questioned.

"No," I said. "You're here with us. They'd want that. And you're getting help to find them, to rescue them, they'd want that too."

"I guess so," he sighed. "I'm just tired. It feels like I've just been going in circles."

"We're gonna find them." And that's what he needed to hear.

"Yeah, we will."


---Fang's POV---

I remember one night, when it was snowing in Chicago, I had to sleep in an alleyway because I couldn't get down the stairs into the abandoned subway platform with my wheelchair. It was before I had built up enough strength to support myself with one leg. Wedged between some boxes and the dumpster, another homeless man and I slept back to back, trying to keep warm. The fact that either of us survived that night had been somewhat of a miracle. I can't remember his name, but I would be the last person to ever see him alive because a car hit him the next day.

It seemed like there were more things reminding me of all the unfortunate things that happened to me than the things that made me happy. Or maybe I was just bitter. Didn't you ever wish you could turn back the clock or travel back in time to fix things? Maybe everyone would be better off if Max had saved Angel and Nudge instead. Just maybe, I'd be better off dead.


I know it's not the best chapter in the world, but you need a filler here and there to build up to the big parts. I don't like abruptness, doesn't flow well. Thanks for reading.