I don't know if I've said this before, but there is a reason people dream of flying. Once you're flying on a perfect day with perfect weather and a perfect blue sky, it's just... Well, perfect. Hard to explain really. Three weeks had passed after we defeated Itex. Three whole weeks. Things weren't excellent of course, but it was better. The flock and I were off doing what we wanted, where we wanted. Barley having to worry about Eraser attacks.

There were some here and there, but they were patchworky like Ari but not near as skilled. And not in big numbers. I would be a fool if I were to try and tell you that a big corporation like Itex was going to go down without a fight, so they were trying to give us a fight. They weren't winning. We even bet on how long it was going to take for them to finally die out. Iggy bet the longest, three whole months. And Angel, being ever the optimist, bet a week from now. Of course we weren't betting anything, we had little to bet, but it was simply a game.

Right now we were heading back to my house, or rather Ella's and my mom's. We had talked about it for awhile, and decided that going home to rest for a month, then out on the road actually having fun for a month or so would be the perfect balance. None of us wanted to stay in one spot any longer especially since we barley had to worry about the pathetic Eraser attacks that rarely came.

Angel broke into my thoughts, "They're coming. Not many. 15 I think?"

Speaking of Eraser attacks…

They were clumsily and slowly flying up behind us. 15 to be exact. This was going to be... Almost fun.

"Alright, Fang Iggy and I will take three, the rest of you only have to deal with two." I told the flock, they all nodded and we, almost eagerly, flew to face the pathetic excuse for our enemy.

After sending one eraser down to the ragged Rocky Mountains, I checked on the rest of the flock Since Angel could simply take them out in seconds, she decided to well, have fun. Fine by me. Gazzy was taking his two out quickly, Nudge doing even better. Fang, with total on his back, was working on what looked to be his third one already, but Iggy… He was usually a great fighter despite his blindness. But now he seemed to actually be having trouble taking these guys out. Why didn't he just use a small bomb or two? I'm sure he has some tucked away.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by an Eraser hit to the head. It was a surprise and sent me off balance, rolling forward. Instead of correcting myself, I continued rolling around to surprise the Eraser by punching him hard in the jaw. Flipping over him, I pulled his horribly sewn on wings together only to gasp when one practically ripped out. I didn't bother watching him fall.

We had finished off the Erasers quickly and were back on track again. Everybody was having their own little conversation. Gazzy was talking about fire or bombs or something similar to Iggy, Nudge trying to persuade Total who was riding on her back into wearing cute doggy clothes, and soon a game of tag between Angel and Gazzy broke out. Fang and I were flying a little bit behind. We didn't need to talk sometimes. Simply flying by each other and barley brushing our wings was enough.

We were not trying to fly fast. We were going at a relaxing speed where we could actually enjoy it. Like a normal person taking a walk through the woods and not worrying about running to find your way out. At about 4:00, we were starting to get tired and hungry. There was a clearing surrounded by woods on one side, and a field of some weird plant on the other side. I looked at Fang who simply nodded, flew up in front of the flock, and lead them down.

"Gazzy and Iggy, could you guys start a fire for us?" I said once we had all landed. "Since you love it so much after all."

I did an automatic 360 to check out the place. We were in a grassy area and we could see absolutely no civilization all around. And that's with our enhanced raptor vision. I rummaged for the last of our hotdogs to eat. There weren't enough to fill us up and we would certainly have to go into town before we got to Ella's, but it was enough.

"Max?" Angel tugged on the bottom of my shirt and looked up at me. "Can we go look at the flowers before we eat?" She asked.

"Uhh sure. I guess that's okay." I answered. We might find some berries that weren't poisonous that we could eat as a side dish. "Let's all go." I added, not wanting to split up the flock.

"Umm actually Max…" Iggy said quietly. "I think I'll just stay here. Prepare the food and stuff." He said and pushed a rock close to the fire to sit on.

"Are you sure?" I asked him, he simply nodded. "Alright then."

We were walking through what looked to be a path made by deer. It was narrow at first, but then it started to widen so we could walk together instead of a single file.

"Oh my God these flowers are so pretty. I wonder what kind they are. Have you ever thought about how many different flowers there are? There must be like, a thousand different kinds." Nudge was rambling on. None of us felt like making her shut up, so I just tuned her out and fell back a ways away so I could see them all.

"What-cha thinking about?" I heard Fang ask next to me. I just shrugged in return. I really wasn't thinking about a certain thing. It was weird.

"How can you not know what you're thinking about?" He asked again.

"I don't know. Just… stuff." I said and smiled up at his dark eyes. You really need to stop being taller than me. I thought toward him. He rolled his eyes and smile back.

"Look! Blueberries!" Angel said loudly, completely ruining the moment.

After loading a bag full of blueberries, we headed back to Iggy. When we got there I saw that he only had a few hot dogs cooked. Normally by now he would have them pretty much finished. I don't know how he does it, but he told me while ago that he could smell when they were done. Arguments have even broken out over weather hot dogs were done or not based on smell, or look. Either way, the ones he had made tasted... Not that good. I mean, we were kids who didn't get to eat as often as we should, food that didn't taste great really wasn't a big deal. But it was odd that they were either burnt or undercooked. Maybe something was wrong with Iggy…

I quickly shook off the thought when I saw him laughing with the others. He was just a bit off. Nothing was really wrong. Right?

--

The next day we stopped at McDonalds to have lunch.

"Max how far away are we?" Nudge said between bites. Which was weird because she never seemed to stop eating.

"I don't know. Maybe a day or two." I answered. We had left Vancouver, Canada yesterday. It was going to take longer than a few hours to travel all the way down to Arizona.

"Where's Iggy?" Gazzy said, also between bites but somehow never stopped eating. How did these kids do these type of things?

"He said something about taking a walk to me earlier." Total said. That made me feel… weird. Why didn't Iggy tell me? Or at least Fang. Why the dog?

"He's going to skip lunch?" Fang asked quietly. He did get more talkative lately, but wasn't loud like Nudge that's for sure. He always spoke quietly. Total just shrugged. Well, as much as a dog can shrug. Fang gave me a worried look, and by the looks of it, I returned it. We were mutant avian-bird hybrid teenagers. Skipping lunch was almost suicidal. Well no it's more like a regular person not eating for a day; not quite suicidal but it's still not good.

15 or 20 minutes later we were heading off into the air. About to anyway. We were still missing Iggy.

"Alright, this is a small town he obviously didn't go far. Angel and Nudge go look that way." I said pointing down one street. "Gazzy and Total go that way. And Fang and I will go this way. Meet back here."

We split up in our different directions to look for Iggy. I was seriously hoping he didn't get lost. It was a small town sure, but you could still get hurt. Especially if you're a blind kid and haven't been doing so well against horrible Erasers.

We were quiet while we walked until we finally stumbled upon Iggy sitting on a bench. He was hunched over and we couldn't see a thing except for his back and legs, but it was defiantly him. He didn't seem to ear us coming though which was weird because usually he can.

"Hey Iggy!" I called out when we were getting close to him. He suddenly pulled something in his lap, stuck something else in his pocket, and 'looked' up.

"Where have you been? Did you have lunch at least?" I asked him. Iggy was usually kind of pale, but now he seemed paler than usual which worried me. He looked as if he was thinking a bit. then shook his head slightly.

"Haven't eaten." He mumbled.

"You okay dude?" Fang asked when we were by him and actually sat down next to him. Wow. Fang caring about something? When did this happen?

"I'm fine." Iggy answered. He sounded fine, but he certainly didn't look fine. He looked like he was hiding something. Fang and I once again exchanged worried looks.

"We better get back to the others." I said knowing the others were waiting for us. Fang and Iggy got off the bench and we started walking back. But I hung back a little bit. There was something strange around here. I looked around but didn't see anything. I listened carefully but didn't hear anything. I smelled the air but - Wait...

I smelled blood.

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride... And I hate these things. They're hardley necesary

Soo... Anyone actually like so far? I actually made this a long time ago, before book 4 came out, but never uploaded it. So I beleive it's set after book 3. But it doesn't matter to much... Whatever. I tend to ramble.

Anyway, this story gets pretty sad. Just as a warning. I loved it when I was writing it, but I think I made some of the characters a bit out of character. Whatever.

I do have the other chapters, and I'll get those up soon enough. In a day or two, I promise. (I know. I'm horrible. I would just really like for some more reveiwers. But weather I get reveiws or not, the next part will be up tomorrow or the next day. I won't wait to long, especially on a clincher like this.)