"You all need to leave. Now. Don't even tell me where you're going. Don't ask questions, there's no time. You just need to get as far away from here as possible. Do not expose yourselves anywhere. Blend in with the humans as well as you can. I mean it Max, your lives depend on secrecy. They're more compromised now than they ever have been before." Jeb spoke urgently and expectantly, as if he expected me to yell 'OH NO!' then jump up and run away screaming, 'Not our lives! We gotta get otta here!' I thought he knew me better.

"Of course they are. And I'm Queen Elizabeth. Didn't you know that?" I retorted.

Max. This is serious.

Oh how great. The Voice was back. This day just kept getting better and better.

Okay, truth be told, though I much preferred my head to be private - most of the time - I was a tiny bit glad to hear from the Voice again. It had been completely gone since before Fang had left. Hearing the voice sort of made the edges of that huge gaping hole in my heart, my chest, my life (this hole had appeared and started to grow as soon as I'd seen Fang's note on the dresser) a little bit less painful. Before, it had felt as though the edges of this giant wound were constantly festering, burning, and eating away more of me - now it was like the Voice had put some lotion on it and the pain had been reduced to a deep, constant ache.

Wow. I had some SERIOUS abandonment issues.

How nice of you join us, Voice. I thought sarcastically.

"Max," Jeb said, "I know you don't trust me, but - "

"Damn right, I don't trust you. What did you expect to happen when you shared your little news? Me to go off obediently and run from this 'danger'? Oh please."

He ignored me.

"I know you don't trust me, but right now you need to put the past behind you."

"Okay, Jeb. What kind of imminent danger are we talking about anyway?" I asked this conversationally, as if I'd merely asked about the weather. I knew it would annoy Jeb - and ha! I was right; I could see it in his expression.

"Let's just say that there is now a united army of the world's most powerful people intent on killing you. Well, not just you - the entire flock - but mostly you - and - and - Dylan." He was skipping over something - a name - someone. I had a pretty good idea of the name he didn't want to mention.

"They will try to pick you off one by one if they can - so do not separate from each other. Stay together at all times. Actually, maybe you should all split up. You'd be less noticable, less recognizable. No. Just stay together. Change your appearances if you can. This is too much Max, even for you. You need to go into hiding."

My heart was pounding too loudly. Fang was on his own - if someone was trying to pick us off one at a time, especially him... But no. I wouldn't worry. For one thing, Fang could take care of himself. For another, Jeb was probably overreacting. Or lying. Or trying to test us, or something.

Then again, I'd never really seen Jeb hesitate when it came to throwing me into potential peril.

"So why do these hypothetically powerful people want to kill us so badly? And what happened to saving the world? And why do you care what happens to us anyway?" I asked, keeping my voice deceptively calm.

"They think that you are a threat. They believe that if the wrong person got their hands on you, the results would be horrifying. These people don't even believe that you should be preserved, studied, or guarded. They don't want to use you themselves. They won't kidnap you and bring you somewhere so that you might be briefly studied or experimented on before death. They will kill you outright. How many times have you been kidnapped? How many times have you been shot at? These people will not momentarily spare you. They will kill you the moment they get the chance."

"Oh come on. People do not pose a threat to us," I scoffed.

"People with guns do," Nudge said quietly.

"Yes," Jeb continued, "People with guns do pose a threat to you. But these are not merely people with guns. They have Erasers. And, on top of that, they have invented a new enemy for you, one that's bigger and more dangerous than you have seen before."

"Who are these people, anyway?" Iggy asked indignantly.

"They are the world's richest people and most influencial politicians. They are the Director of Itex, Omega, and the rest of Itex's remaining forces. They are the leftover scientists from the School and the Institute. They are Mr. Chu and Dr. HG. They are the people who watched the fight between you and Omega back in Germany. They are the people the Uber-Director tried to sell you to."

"Uh-huh. And you expect us to believe that all these people are now best-of-chums and are all united solely for the purpose of killing us? Not to rule the world, or anything, but just to kill us. And I thought Dr. HG really wanted to experiment on us...?"

"They may not all get along, but they all agree that you all need to be eliminated. You're too much of a threat. Really, none of these people want the others to get their hands on you."

Max. You're wasting time.

"One more question. Why are you warning us? Where is my mom? And how do you know all this?"

"That's more than one question. I'm warning you because I care about you. I know you don't believe it, but I do. Your mom is fine, she's home. And no, I do not believe she will be kidnapped to create a trap. The relationship between you and her isn't all that widely known. And I know all this, Max, because I am supposed to be a part of it. I am supposed to kill you."

Well, that was enough information for me.

I turned to my flock, purposely looking past Dylan.

"Alright guys, let's get out of here. I still am not totally sold on Jeb's story, but I say we leave, just in case. Everybody, grab a backpack, and the essentials. Grab an extra pair of clothes too; if we happen to get dirty or bloody, well, I don't think that attire would blend well. Let's go."

We all scrambled into the house. I filled my backpack up with food, the laptop, the remaining money, and a change of clothes. By the time I reached the door, everyone but Nudge was waiting and ready to go. Jeb was still outside.

"Hurry. What are you waiting for? They will be here soon!" he said, exasperated.

"Nudge. And just what are you going to tell them?"

"That you were already gone when I got here."

"Ah. I see."

Luckily, I didn't have to say any more; Nudge caught up with us just then. Not that I would have said anything more, anyway.

"Ciao," I told him carelessly and then started to move past him.

"I hope that this makes you see that I really do care about you," he called as I continued. But I stopped and turned around.

"That because you didn't kill me, you care about me? Whatever Jeb. Whatever."

And we were off.