Quote #7: Fall in love or fall in hate. Get inspired or be depressed. Ace a test or flunk a class. Make babies or make art. Speak the truth or lie and cheat. Dance on tables or sit in a corner. Life is divine chaos. Embrace it. Forgive yourself. And enjoy the ride. Come on people I need more quotes! I'm running out here!

Max POV

After a few hours of lying close to Fang, the sun started to rise. I rolled over and got up quietly, trying not to wake anyone. Kiki and Josh were on watch. When I stood up, I nodded at them and looked at the campfire that was made last night. The fire was out and all that was left were burning embers. The fire was made out of the cornstalks around us, so I took out my pocket knife and started hacking away at more of the stalks. A few minutes later, I had a good amount of cornstalks to start a fire and keep it going. I bunched them all together and pulled out a lighter that Jeb had given me. Within moments, the fire was high and crackling with life.

I sighed and sat down by the fire, warming up my hands and feet. The weather here was starting to get colder and colder by the moment. Josh and Kiki were still on watch, so I was able to relax.

Psh. Like I can ever relax.

A blood curling scream broke through the early morning silence. Everyone was woken up in an instance. I turned away from the fire to check who the scream came from. It was Hawk. I shot up and ran to her side. She was curled up in a ball, gripping onto her stomach.

"Hawk!" Xavier screamed from behind me. He ran over to her side, brushing his sister's hair out of her eyes.

"What's going on?" Travis came up beside me and looked at Hawk. "She doesn't look so good." He said, stating the obvious. And she didn't. Hawk was completely pale. Her breaths came in as short wheezes. I knelt down beside her and lifted up the front of her shirt, looking at her stomach. Around the chip were blood clots and bruises. What the hell was this thing doing to her?

"Iggy, pick her up. CAREFULLY and GENTELLY." I stressed the words as much as I could. Iggy nodded and lifted her up. Xavier stood up and looked at me, his blue eyes wide and watering.

"Are you going to fix my sister?" He asked, barely above a whisper. I nodded and stood up.

"I'm taking her to my mom, and I would trust her with my life." He nodded and I snapped open my wings. We were going to see my mom, Dr. Valencia Martinez. Everyone opened their wings too, and thankfully, Travis's flock did without protest. We took off within seconds, not even bothering to put out the campfire. The flight took only about an hour, but with Hawk's occasional moans made it feel like a millennia. The second I spotted my mom's house in Arizona, I angled down and started the quick descent. I landed at the same time Iggy did, Hawk still lying still in his arms. I grabbed Iggy's belt loop and started walking to the front door, guiding him the way.

I ran up the steps to the porch and knocked on her door. Then it hit me. What if no one was home? I never tried to contact my mom and tell her I was coming. I silently prayed for my mom to come answer the door. A few seconds later, the knob to the door twisted and flew open. Ella, my half sister, was standing in the doorway. When she saw me, a smile appeared on her face.

"Max!" She squealed. Ella flew at me and pulled me into a hug. I only hugged her for a second before I backed away and looked her in the eyes.

"Where's mom?" I had a serious look on my face, and when she looked at Hawk, she knew why. She didn't know Hawk, but she was quick to notice that she wasn't feeling well.

"Mom!" Ella yelled back into the house. She ran back in, and I followed her. I told Iggy to set Hawk down on the couch and wait with her. I looked around for Ella and saw her walking down a hallway. I ran down the hallway and walked into the room Ella walked in. My mom was sitting at a desk, glasses perched at the end of her nose. Her eyes widened when she saw me.

"Dear Lord, it's you! How's the rest of the flock? Are they with you?" My mom smiled and hopped up from her seat. She pulled me into a hug and I didn't turn this one down. My mom's hugs were addictive. I (Sadly) pulled out of the hug and looked at my mom.

"They are fine. And, yeah, they're here. But my friend needs help. She has a chip in her stomach and it's doing something weird to her. We need you to remove the chip." My mom's face immediately went serious and I guided her out of the room to Hawk, who was in the fetal position on the couch. My mom knelt down next to the couch and looked Hawk in the eye.

"Hunny, what's your name?" Hawk looked up at her and croaked out her name. She sounded horrible. Worse than before. "I'm going to take you to my work building. It's a Saturday so no one should be there. I'm going to give you a full autopsy there." Hawk barely nodded and Iggy lifted her up off of the couch. My mom ran into the kitchen and grabbed her purse and keys. She walked out of the front door and Iggy followed. I looked around at everyone.

"Josh and Xavier, you're both coming with us. Travis, can you be in charge? Just make sure Gazzy doesn't blow anything up." Travis nodded at the 'being in charge' part, but when I said 'make sure Gazzy doesn't blow anything up' part, he wore a mask of confusion. I gathered together Josh and Xavier and got them to the front door. "Just hang out here! Don't. Go. Flying. Food's in the fridge!" I yelled as we walked out the door. Josh and Xavier ran into the car and sat in the back seat. Hawk was on Iggy's lap, and Xavier grabbed her hand and started squeezing it. He needed to be with his sister. I ran around the car and sat in the passenger seat. The second I closed my door, the car was speeding down the driveway toward the vet hospital.

Time flashed by and we were in the vet in no time. It was all a blur to me though. I remember running into the building after my mom unlocked the doors. I remember watching Iggy lay hawk down on a metal bed that was made for dogs. So Hawk's legs dangled off of it. And I remember prying Iggy out of the surgery room. My mom did the full autopsy, or whatever they called it, and she decided that Hawk was going into surgery that moment. She doped her up and Hawk was unconscious in seconds.

"Xavier, you need to leave the room. Come sit out here with me, Iggy, and Josh." I looked at the little boy, who had tears in his eyes. He nodded and grabbed my hand. We walked out of the room and into the waiting room. Xavier sat in Josh's lap and burrowed his head into Josh's neck. I walked over and sat next to Iggy. You could tell he was trying not to cry.

"It's going to be okay." I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I promise." He turned his head toward me. He was looking right in between my eyes. Pretty good for a blind kid.

"When she screamed this morning, I thought she was going to die. I—I didn't know what to do." He leaned his head on my shoulder. I patted his head with my free hand and leaned my head on his. I always felt protective over Iggy. I remember when we found his parents and he left us to be with them. It ripped my heart out. I love Iggy. He's my brother. And seeing him so broken and hurt over a girl he just met a few weeks ago, showed me that he actually loved her.

"I know how you feel." I said, regarding to when Fang left. Iggy sighed and closed his unseeing eyes.

Now it's time to wait and see how Hawk turns out.

Fang POV

I was sitting on the couch, watching TV with Travis and Kiki. I had discovered that Travis and Kiki were boyfriend and girlfriend. The excessive making out proved that to me. At least Max and I went into another room! When I couldn't hear the TV over the smacking of Total Stranger 1 That Max Trusted and Total Stranger 2 That Max Trusted, I got up and walked into the kitchen. The twins, Spike and Jacob, were sitting at the table. They were shoving Mexican food that Dr. Martinez made down their throats. Kris walked into the room with Nudge trailing behind him. She was practically drooling over him.

Kris sat down and Nudge quickly followed. Nudge was only twelve, and Kris was seventeen. Let's see how that would work. But I noticed something; no one was talking. Not even the blabbermouth Nudge. We just sat there in silence. I got up and walked to the guest room. Maybe I can be alone and think there. Gazzy and Angel were lying on one of the beds that were set up. Angel was curled up in her older brother's arms. Both of them were sleeping quietly. After waking up suddenly this morning and flying before they were fully awake, they must be beat. I backed out of the room and walked down the hallway.

I passed Ella's room. She, Lima, and Taya were sitting on the floor. I think they were talking about some teen superstar. None of the three girls seemed afraid for Hawk though. It's probably because they didn't know her that well. Lima did seem shaken up from the scream though. I continued walking and passed the bathroom. I heard sniffles coming from in there and stopped moving. Someone was in there crying.

I mentally went through the people who were at the house in my head. Dr. Martinez, Max, Josh, Xavier and Iggy were with Hawk. Travis and Kiki were in the living room. Spike, Jacob, Kris, and Nudge were in the kitchen. Angel and the Gasman were sleeping. Ella, Taya, and Lima were in Ella's room. The only person left in the house was Janie.

I opened the bathroom door and looked in. Janie was sitting on the ground, tissues surrounding her, weeping. I couldn't leave her there, so I sat down next to her and leaned back on the bath tub. She looked at me and then took a deep breath.

"Sorry you have to see my like this. I've never seen Hawk like that before." She sighed and wiped her eyes with another tissue. "Max's mom seemed nice though. She didn't ask any questions, she just took Hawk into her arms and took care of her." I nodded and she leaned back too. "I wish Josh was here. No offence or anything. It's just that he knows how to make a person feel better no matter what." She smiled to herself and picked at her fingernails.

"I know a person like that." Max's face popped into my head. Max was the girl who could make you feel like a scared little girl on the inside, or she can make you feel like you can rule the world.

I put my hand on Janie's back and rubbed in between her wings, trying to make her feel better. I know I only did that to Max, but I felt bad for Janie. The leader of her flock, her best friend, had her life on a limb. Janie must be dying inside. We sat there for a while like that. Janie crying and me rubbing her back on the bathroom floor. When the phone rang, I was about to get up when I heard Ella yell "I got it!" I leaned back and looked at Janie.

"Let's go find out whose calling." She sniffed. I nodded and stood up. I walked out of the bathroom and looked at Ella, who was walking toward me. She handed me the phone.

"It's for you. It's Max." I put the phone up to my ear the moment she said Max.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Fang!" Max yelled. "Hawk is fine. She is still unconscious though. The chip is out. It caused a lot of damage to her stomach though. It was in a small space behind her stomach, but my mom said that stress caused it to rip through her stomach. It caused a lot of bleeding and my mom said she was amazed that Hawk even survived." Max stopped talking. I could hear the soft voices in the back from side conversations everyone else was having. "It was so bad that Hawk is probably going to be weak for a week. That's in bird kid healing days. My mom said this would take months for a normal person to get passed this." Seconds ticked by. "How is it at home?"

"Everyone is fine. Janie was crying, but she is better now. Everyone is quiet though. I think they are going to feel better once they see Hawk." My mind flicked to Xavier. For some reason, I felt really protective over him. "How's Xavier holding up?"

"He was really scared at first, but he is doing better now that Hawk is out of surgery." She stopped talking again. You could hear the smile in her voice. "He is a strong little sucker." I heard someone talking to Max in the back. "Fang, I have to go. Hawk just woke up. We'll be back in a little bit. Give everyone my love. Bye" She hung up. I handed the phone back to Ella.

"Get everyone into the living room. We'll talk there." Ella nodded and walked back into her room to get Lima and Taya. I walked into the guest room and sat down on the edge of the bed that Gazzy and Angel were sleeping on. I touched their sides and they woke up instantly. "I want to talk to everyone. Can you come in the living room?" They both nodded and I got up and walked out of the room, they both followed me.

Once I reached the living room, everyone was bunched together, staring at me. I explained the situation with Hawk to them. Then I explained that we would be here for a week. No one seemed to be mad at that fact.

Dr. Martinez had a nice house. There was always nonstop food. There was enough beds and couches for people to sleep on. There were woods nearby, so you could fly freely.

I nodded at everyone and walked away to the guest room. I really needed to write in the blog to get things off of my mind.

Fang's Blog

You are visiting Fang's blog. Welcome!

You are Visitor #: 8,345,001 (I GOT IT TO WORK AGAIN!)

Yo,

Hawk is hurt, really bad. We are staying somewhere safe. I can't tell you where we are, sorry. Everyone is settled in fine, though. And did I mention we have a new flock with us? They aren't that bad so far. They mostly keep their distance.

I've been thinking about it, and I want to destroy Itex now more than ever. If we never had this DNA grafted into us, we wouldn't be going through this hell. I wouldn't have to make my loved ones stop crying because they don't want their friend to die from the microchip that's inside of them. I wouldn't have to worry about being killed twenty-four-seven. I wouldn't be sleeping on damn cornstalks for God's sakes! But some good has come out of this. I got my family through this. I got Max. And, I wouldn't be able to fly. But still…

I saw Angel and Gazzy curled up in balls, sleeping, today. They looked beat. When they are fighting, they are small death machines. But I noticed that when they are asleep, they look so fragile and young that it looked like if you touched them they would break. The both of them are just so dang cute. Both of them would be living normal childhood lives instead of this one if it weren't for Itex.

I've seen that you have been starting fight clubs and stuff. Good job. I really do appreciate all of the stuff you all have been doing. Keep up the good work.

I'm not going to answer any more questions you guys have asked today though. I've just been so stressed out about Hawk and the new flock we joined forces with. I'll write more later on.

-Fang